Data Pointing to INTC Stock Rally

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is moving higher today, last seen up 0.5% at $57.38, and while the shares lost steam near former support at the $58 area, there's reason to believe the Dow stock can keep pushing higher. That's because the 40-day moving average has been acting as support again, and data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White shows seven similar pullbacks to the trendline in the past three years have produced bullish results.

Specifically, these pullbacks have yielded an average 21-day gain of 5.1%, so another move of this kind would have INTC shares above $60. This round-number level has capped the stock's upside all year, with the 52-week high standing at $59.59.

What's interesting is that put activity has actually picked up on Intel. For starters, the 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.77 ranks in the 75th annual percentile at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), showing a higher-than-normal interest in put buying. What's more, the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) is 1.15 and ranks in the 96th annual percentile, so near-term open interest is unusually put-skewed right now.

Either way, INTC has been a good target for premium buyers in the past year, based on its Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 91. This means the shares have regularly made bigger moves than options traders were pricing in during the last 12 months.