THE WEEK AHEAD: BABA, GPS EARNINGS; TSLA, GDX, USO, GDX
A quick, dirty of next week:
EARNINGS WITH FAVORABLE METRICS FOR A VOLATILITY CONTRACTION PLAY
BABA (86 rank/41% 30-day) announces on 8/23 (Thursday) before market open.
Sept 21st 155/195 short strangle (16 delta), 3.68 credit.
Sept 21st 150/155/195/200 iron condor, 1.32 credit.
Notes: With the defined risk, you'll need to bring the wings in a touch more or use the same shorties to get the one-third the width of the wings in credit I ordinarily look for out of these.
GPS (58 rank/46% 30-day) announces on 8/23 (Thursday) after market close.
Sept 21st 31 short straddle, 3.26 credit.
Sept 21st 28/35 short strangle, .91 credit.
Sept 21st 26/31/31/36 iron fly: 2.78 credit.
Notes: The flies can be pesky to manage if they go awry, so I generally opt for the naked short straddle over that if it's an underlying under $50.
SINGLE NAME WITH EARNINGS IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR
TSLA (85 rank/79% 30-day): Sept 21st 250/255/350/355 iron condor, 1.61 credit.
Notes: Very nearly one-third the width of the wings out of this 20 delta.
EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS
GDX (76/31), GDXJ (56/33), USO (54/27), and EWZ (52/40) round out the top funds with ranks greater than 50.
Notes: GDX and GDXJ may be amenable to bullish assumption directionals (short puts, short put verticals, upward call diagonals) while EWZ continues to have just Plain Jane premium that can you can skew directionally if you're so inclined (since it pretty much remains on its butt). USO has never been my favorite /CL proxy with XOP (18/28) being my go-to.
MAJOR FOOD GROUPS
QQQ has the highest 30-day (17), followed by IWM (15), SPY (14),and EFA (13). /VX term structure remains in contango with VIX at 13.10 as of Friday close versus the August /VX contract at 13.15, September at 14.40.
The QQQ Oct 19th 168/172/2x188/2x190 "double double" (see Post Below) is paying 1.48 at the mid, although it's a little early for me to pull the trigger on an October setup (61 days 'til).
EARNINGS WITH FAVORABLE METRICS FOR A VOLATILITY CONTRACTION PLAY
BABA (86 rank/41% 30-day) announces on 8/23 (Thursday) before market open.
Sept 21st 155/195 short strangle (16 delta), 3.68 credit.
Sept 21st 150/155/195/200 iron condor, 1.32 credit.
Notes: With the defined risk, you'll need to bring the wings in a touch more or use the same shorties to get the one-third the width of the wings in credit I ordinarily look for out of these.
GPS (58 rank/46% 30-day) announces on 8/23 (Thursday) after market close.
Sept 21st 31 short straddle, 3.26 credit.
Sept 21st 28/35 short strangle, .91 credit.
Sept 21st 26/31/31/36 iron fly: 2.78 credit.
Notes: The flies can be pesky to manage if they go awry, so I generally opt for the naked short straddle over that if it's an underlying under $50.
SINGLE NAME WITH EARNINGS IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR
TSLA (85 rank/79% 30-day): Sept 21st 250/255/350/355 iron condor, 1.61 credit.
Notes: Very nearly one-third the width of the wings out of this 20 delta.
EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS
GDX (76/31), GDXJ (56/33), USO (54/27), and EWZ (52/40) round out the top funds with ranks greater than 50.
Notes: GDX and GDXJ may be amenable to bullish assumption directionals (short puts, short put verticals, upward call diagonals) while EWZ continues to have just Plain Jane premium that can you can skew directionally if you're so inclined (since it pretty much remains on its butt). USO has never been my favorite /CL proxy with XOP (18/28) being my go-to.
MAJOR FOOD GROUPS
QQQ has the highest 30-day (17), followed by IWM (15), SPY (14),and EFA (13). /VX term structure remains in contango with VIX at 13.10 as of Friday close versus the August /VX contract at 13.15, September at 14.40.
The QQQ Oct 19th 168/172/2x188/2x190 "double double" (see Post Below) is paying 1.48 at the mid, although it's a little early for me to pull the trigger on an October setup (61 days 'til).