Put players targeted Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (GT - 11.21) yesterday, as more than 6,300 of these options were exchanged, tripling the equity's average daily volume. Over 2,400 puts were traded at the near-the-money April 12 strike -- the majority of them at the ask price, indicating they were purchased. However, open interest at this strike declined by 1,747 contracts overnight, pointing to liquidation activity. Even so, this option still holds peak put open interest of 9,226 contracts.

GT is no stranger to bearish options attention, as evidenced by its Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR), which checks in at 1.38 -- conveying that puts comfortably outnumber calls among options expiring within three months. This ratio ranks higher than 88% of all other comparable readings taken within the past year, confirming that short-term options traders are showing a healthier-than-usual appetite for puts over calls.

In terms of technical performance, the tire manufacturer has shed more than 21% year-to-date, and has lagged the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 27% during the last 60 days. A look at the charts shows that the stock remains pinned beneath its descending 10-day moving average, a trendline that has served as stubborn resistance since mid-February.

In the morning hours of the session, however, GT has managed a gain of about 1.3% to trade at $11.21.