THE WEEK AHEAD: TWTR EARNINGS; USO, EEM, IWM, UNG, XOPTWTR announces earnings on Thursday before market open, and with a rank of 92 and a 30-day implied of 70, it presents ideal metrics for a earnings announcement volatility contraction play.
As of Friday close, the November 16th 25/34 short strangle is paying 1.57 (.79 profit at 50% max), with a net delta of .39 and a theta of 6.45, and break evens of 23.43/35.57 (wide of the expected move).
For those willing to bet a little more strongly on its not moving much more than the expected move: the November 16th 29 short straddle is paying 4.47 (1.12 profit at 25% max), with break evens of 24.26/33.74.
On the exchange-traded fund front: USO (73/30), EEM (67/25), and IWM (66/22) round out the top three underlyings when sorted by rank. UNG (42/41); EWZ (56/38); and XOP (53/32) are the top three when sorted by 30-day implied.
Possible Trades:
A USO December 21st 14.5/15 skinny short strangle* is paying 1.10 at the mid price with break evens of 13.40/16.10. Given the fact that this is basically a short straddle setup where I would shoot for 25% max, 1.10 isn't exactly compelling on a 1-contract basis (.28 at 25% max), but its small size makes it ideal for layering on setups over time in order to generate a worthwhile, multiple contract position that has some juice in it.
An EEM, December 21st 39/40 skinny short strangle is paying 2.68 at the mid price with break evens of 36.32/42.68. Go 25-delta short strangle -- the 37/42, and you bring in 1.24 in credit with 35.76/43.23 break evens. For defined risk, there's the double diagonal, (See Post Below). The December 21st 35/37/41/43 iron condor pays .70; going three-wide won't pay at least one-third unless you bring in the wings to a 35/38/41/44, which is paying 1.33.
An IWM December 21st, 16 delta, 139/165 short strangle is paying 2.43 with break evens of 136.57/167.43, which encompasses much of the last 52 week's range between 142.50 and 173.39. A delta neutral 141/145/162/165 iron condor pays 1.40; the slightly narrower 142/145/162/164 pays 1.05.
With UNG, I've had my eye on a short setup, (See Post Below), but don't want to pull the trigger too early. We're winding into winter, after all, which generally means increased natural gas usage and draw downs of current supplies. That being said, the notion behind the setup is that even if my timing is slightly off, a setup with a long-dated back month will eventually benefit as we emerge from winter, so I'm looking at putting the back month out in time and in an expiry when seasonality favors natty weakness. Unfortunately, the only available post-winter expiry is April, and I'd rather have an early to mid summer back month, so I'm fine with being patient here.
XOP has been double whammered with broad market weakness on top of oil weakness and is now at the bottom of the range between 40 and 45.50 it's been in since mid-April and a bit above the middle of its 52-week range between 31 and 45.50 with the low set in the early February sell-off. To me, that suggests "directionally neutral": the December 21st 40 short straddle pays 4.16 with break evens at 35.84 and 44.16; the 36/44 short strangle in the same expiry pays 1.40 with break evens at 34.60/45.40.
* -- The reason I would go with a skinny short strangle here instead of a short straddle is because price was 14.72 as of Friday close, which is in between the 14.5 and 15 strikes.
