Option Skews - Relatively Heavy Call Activity on Apple Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, YRC Worldwide Inc

Here are the stocks that saw a bias toward call 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 call volume on the ISE is at least twice as great as the put volume. It then sorts the stocks based on the call volume. Since this is buy-to-open data, this can be a good source for finding stocks where optimism is emerging. Of particular interest to me would be situations where we see call activity on stocks that are still in intermediate-term downtrends. This would be a potentially cautionary sign from the contrarian perspective.

Companies included in today's scan results: Citigroup Inc (C), Apple Inc (AAPL), Bank of America Corp (BAC), Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD), General Electric (GE), DIAMONDS Trust Series I (DIA), Ford Motor Co (F), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT), Palm Inc (PALM), Monsanto Co (MON), Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (WFR), American International Group Inc (AIG), YRC Worldwide Inc (YRCW), United Parcel Service (UPS), Eli Lilly and (LLY), CVS Corp. (CVS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Tesoro Petroleum (TSO), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Silver Standard Resources (SSRI), Deere & Co (DE), ADC Telecommunications (ADCT).

Apple Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and YRC Worldwide Inc are the charts that stood out to me -

• I looked at Apple last Monday and said -
  "We recently saw that Apple hit a new high after earnings. The daily chart shows the stock has now pulled back to fill the gap. This leaves the equity near both support and a short-term oversold condition. For most of this year, the bulls have been quick to step in and buy dips so the action here will give us a good read on the underlying demand. "
  The current daily chart shows the bulls had no problems jumping in. The recent peak near 208 is now the next hurdle to overcome.
• Goldman Sachs Group is another stock that was singled out last week amid a pullback to support. The updated weekly chart also shows a bounce as buyers have shown an interest.
• While Apple and Goldman have seen an influx in demand, YRC Worldwide is a different story. Nearly a month ago I discussed the short-term gains in the context of the longer-term range. I said I thought the relatively mild rejection was an encouraging sign but that I wouldn't front run a breakout. A look to this daily chart shows why I like to wait until breakouts are confirmed. Shares of YRCW were trading just above 4 in the link above but have now plunged to around 1. The weekly chart shows the equity is now back at the lower end of that range.

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