Option Skews - Relatively Heavy Put Activity on Cemex SAB de CV, Netease.com Inc, Iron Mountain Inc, Adobe Systems Inc

Here are the stocks that saw a bias toward put activity in the previous session. This filtered scan is based on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) buy-to-open data. It looks for stocks where the previous day's put volume on the ISE is at least twice as great as the call volume. It then sorts the stocks based on the put volume. Since this is buy-to-open data, this can be a good source for finding stocks where skepticism is emerging. Of particular interest to me would be situations where we see put activity on stocks that are still in intermediate-term uptrends. This would be a potentially encouraging sign from the contrarian perspective.

Companies included in today's scan results: Cemex SAB de CV (CX), WellPoint Health Networks (WLP), Netease.com Inc (NTES), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM), Tesoro Petroleum (TSO), Ambac Financial Group (ABK), Silver Standard Resources (SSRI), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Target Corp. (TGT), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Sunoco (SUN), CSX Corp. (CSX), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), United Technologies (UTX), Union Pacific Corp (UNP), XTO Energy (XTO), ConocoPhilips (COP), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Linn Energy, LLC (LINE), MGM Mirage (MGM), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT), GFI Group Inc. (GFIG), Boeing (BA), Iron Mountain Incorporated (IRM), Adobe Systems Incorporated (ADBE).

Cemex SAB de CV, Netease.com Inc, Iron Mountain Inc, and Adobe Systems Inc are the charts that stood out to me -

• Cemex SAB de CV tops today's scan results but even its put activity was relatively light. However, the weekly chart is worth mentioning. My last check of Cemex showed its stock was bouncing off support. That bounce failed to overtake resistance near 14 and the equity has now pulled back to the lower end of that zone. The shares did hit a short-term oversold reading so keep eye on what happens here. A failure to bounce would suggest buying demand is drying up.
• Netease.com is another situation that has shown hints of weakness. The last look at the chart showed the stock was in a strong uptrend and testing the upper end of its recent range. The updated daily chart shows the equity rolled over and dipped below support near 38. The shares have since retaken that former support but the overall situation has transitioned from a tight uptrend to a somewhat sloppy range. The stock is potentially nearing a short-term overbought condition so it will be interesting to see if there is enough sideline demand to keep pushing the shares higher.
• My last inspection of Adobe Systems revealed the shares were trying to pull away from congestion. The current weekly chart shows that effort failed. However, the stock is still holding above support so the overall pattern is still constructive.
• Meanwhile, the weekly chart of Iron Mountain is a bit more concerning. A steady downtrend has been in place since July and the shares are now flirting with a breakdown.

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