Put volume is running a little high on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - 250.75) this afternoon, with roughly 16,000 contracts exchanged so far. This represents 1.08 times the stock's intraday average. Meanwhile, call activity is relatively light, with only about 14,000 AMZN calls crossing the tape.

Specifically, weekly puts are the most popular choice. The two most active options are AMZN's weekly Dec. 7 250-strike put, with 3,014 contracts traded, and the weekly 245-strike put, with 2,341 contracts changing hands. The majority of these puts have crossed the tape closer to the ask price, suggesting they were purchased, and today's volume is outstripping open interest at both strikes. In other words, it looks as though new bearish bets are being opened on the Kindle parent.

With AMZN shares hovering around $250.75 at last check, these short-term options are out of the money. By purchasing these weekly puts, traders seem to be bracing for the retailer to turn south over the next several sessions.

From a longer-term look, however, AMZN remains a technical standout. The shares have rallied nearly 45% so far in 2012, and they're trading above familiar support at their 10-month and 20-month moving averages.