Unlike my blog below, where I argued that Energizer (ENR) may not have been worthy of the downgrade it received today, I do believe the downgrade Newell Rubbermaid (NWL: sentiment, chart, options) was smacked with was due. Specifically, NWL was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy."

So, what is the difference between ENR and NWL? Well, while ENR has outpaced the S&P 500 Index (SPX) recently, NWL has trailed the broad-market indicator by 25% during the past 60 trading sessions.

Furthermore, despite the stock's weak performance on the charts, NWL's Schaeffer's put/call open ratio (SOIR) is docked at 0.30, indicating that calls more than triple puts among short-term options. Also, this ratio ranks lower than 94% of all similar readings, meaning short-term option players have been more bullishly aligned just 6% of the time during the past year.

Also, Zacks reports that the stock harbors 5 "buy" or better ratings and 4 "hold" recommendations, with not a "sell" to be found. This configuration provides ample room for additional downgrades.

In conclusion, followers of NWL should be wary. The stock slipped more than 6% today, and investors have been expecting a rally. If the stock is unable to make some serious progress on the charts, it might fall victim to additional downgrades, pressuring the optimistic option players to back away from their bullish positions.