6 Options Trades You Can Be Thankful For

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#2 Darden Restaurants (DRI) Puts

By Chris Johnson and Jon Lewis

Thanksgiving is a time when friends and family gather at home for a feast, but the restaurant industry is hoping that a good number of folks dine out amid their holiday shopping activities. Given the tentative economic recovery and double-digit unemployment rate, it's doubtful that they'll get their wish. That's why our bearish pick is Darden Restaurants (DRI) -- the operator of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, The Capital Grille and LongHorn Steakhouse, to name a few.

The stock itself is under some pressure, having gone nowhere for the past eight months. In fact, the shares are staring up at some formidable technical resistance that has kept them in check for nearly two months. What's more, we're seeing a lot of optimism toward DRI that, quite frankly, is not deserved. The put/call ratio is low, indicating a lot of hopeful call activity. And nearly 60% of covering analysts rate the shares a "buy" without one "sell" rating in the entire bunch, which doesn't leave much room for upgrades.

Optimism among investors on stocks with shaky fundamentals and weak technicals is a bearish recipe, so consider buying put options on DRI.

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