Traders appear to be keeping an eye on this looming technical roadblock, since pessimism is on the rise among option players and short sellers. During the past 10 days, the International Securities Exchange (ISE) reports that 1.18 puts have been bought to open for every call on EP. This ratio ranks within three percentage points of a 52-week high, revealing that demand for bearish bets has been greater than usual.

Meanwhile, short interest on the shares has ticked higher during each of the past two reporting periods, and now accounts for 3.2% of EP's available float.

This rising skepticism precedes EP's second-quarter earnings report, which is due to hit Wall Street next Thursday, August 6. Ahead of the report, Thomson Reuters notes that analysts are expecting the company to have raked in 21 cents per share during the period, down from 39 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

If the company continues its trend of topping analysts' earnings expectations, the recent crop of bearish speculators could find themselves rushing for the exits -- EP has exceeded Wall Street's consensus estimates in each of its previous three quarterly reports. As traders rush to cover their short positions, the resulting buying pressure could help the commodity stock tackle stubborn resistance on the charts.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.