This market is ripping the bulls and bears to pieces as we continue to watch volatility increase while the market’s trend remains directionless, at least for the past three weeks or so. Since breaking above the 1,130 mark on Sept. 20, the S&P 500 has traded within a 1.7% range from top to bottom as skittish investors appear unwilling to commit the next round of investment dollars to the market until they get a look at the upcoming earnings reports.

While there is a chance that the market will follow through to the upside, there is a growing list of companies that are transitioning from short-term bulls to short-term bears. Scanning our database of more than 7,000 company’s stock trends, we uncovered this short list of companies that you want to keep your eyes on over the next week or so as their stock patterns suggest that the bears are ready to push them lower.

Let’s take a closer look at one of these companies, MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET). The insurance giant has spent the last few years reeling as the economy and credit situations have wreaked havoc on insurance companies.

The stock is up just over 11% year-to-date and has tried to remain a relative strength leader against the S&P 500, though that title is deteriorating lately.

Near-term technicals are indicating resistance for the stock at the $40 mark as the price serves as the confluence for the 20-, 50-, 100- and 200-day moving averages.

In addition, the $40 level serves as the point at which call open interest begins to heavily outweigh put open interest. This is often a good indication that the stock will find it hard to climb higher, as the large amount of call open interest tends to act as resistance.

At best, we’re considering MET as a neutral-to-bearish candidate right now, which means that credit spread traders may want to take advantage of writing the MET October 41/42 bearish credit spread, a trade that would return 12.4% if the stock failed to move above $41 before next Friday.

More aggressive options traders might consider the MET Nov 38 Puts as a position to leverage a move back toward $36 over the next few weeks.

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