Schaeffer's Options Update: American Express Racks Up Heavy Put Volume

It's no secret that Wall Street's frustration with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's version of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP II) has been taken out on the financial sector. Since Geithner officially announced the plan earlier this week, the Select Sector Financial SPDR (NYSE: XLF) has fallen more than 10%. What's more, troubled financial services firm American Express (NYSE: AXP) has outpaced the sector's decline, shedding nearly 13% since Monday.

AXP is back in focus today, as options traders appear to be picking up the pace in acquiring put options on the security. Specifically, the International Securities Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange's 10-day put/call ratio of 1.65 indicates that puts bought to open have easily outnumbered calls purchased during the past 2 weeks. Additionally, this ratio ranks above 65% of all those taken during the past year, underscoring a preference for bearish bets on AXP.

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