Google Inc (GOOGL) Looks to Prove Option Bears Wrong

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is riding the broad-market tailwinds higher, last seen up 2.2% at $666.99 -- bringing its year-to-date advance north of 25%. In fact, a sharp bounce off its 20-week moving average late last month has the stock taking aim at its record peak of $713.33, skimmed in July. Based on what's been happening in options land, another sharp upside move could be around the corner.

Specifically, during the last two weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), GOOGL has racked up a put/call volume ratio of 0.81. While call-skewed on an absolute basis, this ratio ranks just 4 percentage points from a 52-week high -- suggesting speculators have bought to open puts over calls at a near-annual-extreme clip, relatively speaking.

This combination of strong technicals and negative sentiment is ideal for a bullish contrarian play. Specifically, if GOOGL continues to muscle up the charts, a capitulation among option bears could result in tailwinds.

At the same time, it should be noted that recent Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) put buyers may not be bearish at all. In fact, these traders may be shareholders initiating put positions in order to hedge against an unexpected downturn in the long-term outperformer.