Alcon (ACL: sentiment, chart, options) is enjoying a positive start to the trading session this morning, as the stock has gapped more than 5% higher on the open following an upgrade at Wachovia from "market perform" to "outperform." Overall, ACL is not a particular favorite on Wall Street, as the stock has earned "buy" ratings and 8 "holds," according to Zacks. This bearish configuration leaves ample room for additional upgrades from this bearish bunch.

Meanwhile, options players have high hopes for the shares. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio for ACL stands at 0.56, as call open interest nearly doubles put open interest among near-term options. This reading is lower than 91% of those taken during the past year, indicating that options players have been more optimistic toward the shares just 9% of the time during the past year.

At last check, the security was sitting on a gain of roughly 1%, pulling back from its initial highs and dropping back below resistance at its 20-day moving average. However, it appears ACL is clinging to support at the 80 level and is still above resistance at its 10-day trendline. ACL has been guided lower by its 10-day and 20-day trendlines since mid-August.