Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: scorecard, quote, chart) announced this morning that it has joined in the evacuation of the Gulf of Mexico due to Tropical Storm Gustav. The company has started evacuating non-essential personnel from its Gulf of Mexico operations. In addition, a small amount of production has been shut in, impacted by third-party operations. Furthermore, its refineries along the Gulf Coast have also initiated preliminary safety actions due to weather related to the storm, but added operations are normal at this time.

Options trading is mixed on the security at the moment. On Thursday, the International Securities Exchange (ISE) reported that 1,183 calls were purchased, compared to 3,048 puts. In other words, 2.6 puts were purchased for every 1 call.

However, prior to yesterday's action, the preference was for calls. The ISE stated that during the prior 10 trading days, the call/put volume ratio came in at 1.92, which is higher than 80% of all those taken during the past year. Furthermore, the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio rests at 0.52, as call open interest nearly doubles put open interest. This reading is also at an optimistic extreme. So, while put trading was active on Thursday, investors are still extremely optimistic toward the shares.

From a technical perspective, the shares are attempting to bounce back. After finding support in the 76 region throughout August, the stock has crawled back above resistance at its 10-day and 20-day moving averages. The shares are still facing resistance at their declining 10-week moving average, which they have not closed a week above since late May. If oil fails to spike as expected due to Tropical Storm Gustav, the shares of XOM may be rejected by resistance at their 10-week trendline.