Dow component Intel (INTC: sentiment, chart, options) dipped into the red today after the company said it expects to take a restructuring and asset-impairment charge of $250 million in the second quarter. Word of the charges, which comes courtesy of a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes shortly after INTC revealed $329 million in restructuring and impairment charges for the first quarter, coupled with an asset impairment charge of $275 million stemming from the sale of its flash memory assets to Numonyx.

Intel said it expects charges to drop off in the second half of the year, but that doesn't mean there aren't a few concerns lingering for the chip company. The European Commission has requested additional information from Intel relating to charges of unfair business practices. Competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) alleges that Intel has abused its dominant market position in order to drive microprocessor sales charges that INTC says it will fight.

Technically, INTC is on the upswing, but the shares face pressure from their 10-month moving average in the 24 region. Sentiment toward the stock is tilting toward the bearish end of the spectrum, at least among short-term option traders. INTC's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) is 1.01, which ranks higher than 99% of comparable readings taken during the past year.

In today's session, some investors are adding to their bearish bets. The July 24 put has traded volume of 5,213 contracts on open interest of 2,715, indicating that some of this volume will translate to new open interest tomorrow.