All eyes will be on Apple earnings today after the bell. Should their numbers not meet with expectations, a sell-off appears likely. Below is a daily chart of Apple showing major support/resistance levels. Note that most of them occur at the even $50 marks as well as minor support at $25 intervals. It’s worth noting that selling volume has been increasing (although it’s not shown on this chart) which means that institutions are starting to divest themselves of some of their holdings.

Folks wishing to protect their long positions may wish to buy puts with strikes at support levels. If I owned Apple stock (unfortunately, I don’t), I’d look at a six month to one year $550/$500 put debit spread. (I prefer spreads which lower the cost of entry while also mitigating some of the effects of implied volatility.)