InterContinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) shares are falling today after the company reported second-quarter earnings of $84.9 million, or $1.19 a share, matching analysts' estimates. However, shares of ICE are declining today, as investors may be weighing the company's earnings against chief competitor Nymex Holdings (NYSE: NMX), which beat analysts' earnings forecasts last week and claimed to have won more market share from ICE in the hotly-contested West Texas Intermediate crude market. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on ICE.

After hitting a one-year high of $194.92 in December, the stock hit a one-year low of $80.20 in July. This morning, ICE opened at $98.49. So far today the stock has hit a low of $88.33 and a high of $98.49. As of 12:20, ICE is trading at $88.33, down $7.87 (-8.2%). The chart for ICE looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a September bear-call credit spread above the $120 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.2% return in seven weeks as long as ICE is below $120 at September expiration. InterContinental Exchange would have to rise by more than 35% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

ICE hasn't been above $120 since late June and has shown resistance around $103 recently. This trade could be risky if the overall market turns around quickly and stages a rebound, but even if that happens, the position above could be protected by resistance the stock might find at its 50-day moving average, which is currently around $113 and falling.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in ICE nor NMX.