Traders on Wednesday rushed to buy calls on Halliburton Company (HAL). During the course of the session, option players on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 3,297 calls on HAL, compared to 466 puts. In other words, speculative investors picked up seven times more bullish bets than bearish during the course of the session.

The stock's August 22 call was the center of attention yesterday, with 5,905 contracts crossing the tape on open interest of 3,768. Much of the day's volume consisted of newly opened positions, with open interest at this strike arriving today at 7,902 contracts. With HAL trading shy of the $20 level at last check, these calls are out of the money.

Wednesday's bias toward calls continues a recent trend on the shares, which have now racked up a 10-day ISE call/put volume ratio of 2.25. This ratio ranks in the 81st annual percentile, suggesting calls on HAL have been more popular than usual in recent weeks.

The prospect of hedging by short sellers seems unlikely; short interest on the shares has dropped lately, and many of these bears are likely taking profits -- the equity has slipped significantly from its June 11 peak near $25.

At last check, HAL shares were sharply lower, down 5.5% at $19.56. The stock is currently testing unproven support at its 20-week moving average.