Investors pushed up call option prices in the medical instruments and supplies industry and pushed up put option prices in the diversified utilities industry Wednesday.
Any time the volatility skews above 1.00, it is an indication that calls are more expensive than puts. Typically, when calls are more expensive than puts, it means the demand for calls is greater than the demand for puts because investors believe the stock is going to rise in the future and they want to take advantage of that movement by buying calls.
The opposite is also true. Any time a volatility skews below 1.00, it is an indication that puts are more expensive than calls.
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"In the current volatile market, you can't go wrong by making your portfolio more defensive," says Glenn Rogers, who notes he has been "on the hunt for stocks that are fairly bulletproof."

