Shares of struggling financial concern Washington Mutual (WM: sentiment, chart, options) received a boost in afternoon trading today. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, financial services hedge fund Toscafund Asset Management LLP has taken a 6% stake in the bank. In the filing, Toscafund said it now owns 105.5 million shares of Washington Mutual.

The news has pushed WM shares to a 16% gain on the day, amounting to about 76 cents per share for stock. The shares are now poised above their 10-day and 20-day moving averages, which are on the verge of a bullish cross - a technical formation that could signal additional positive short-term price action. However, there is still the concern of the equity's falling 10-week trendline (located at the 6 level), which WM has not closed a week above since May 2.

Meanwhile, optimism is running high among options players. WM's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.02 ranks below 91% of all those taken during the past year. This reading stands in stark contrast to the 26% short-to-float ratio that short sellers have bid up on the stock.