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Next week is a huge week for tech earnings, with "Magnificent Seven" members Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Apple (AAPL) all set to report.
OptionsPlay senior options strategist Brian Overby tells Yahoo Finance that trading options around earnings is "always going to be speculative in nature." He says one of the biggest things traders will want to establish is "what the expected move is after that earnings report. And the marketplace will tell you that just by looking at the nearest term option contract."
Overby explains how he would position for Amazon (AMZN) ahead of its results on Oct. 31.
"Amazon is looking for an expected move of around 6.5%, which is really about 12 points. So if I'm setting up a trade where I want to be bullish or bearish, because you got to realize it has nothing to do with if the market's going to go up or down, it's just saying that after the earnings report, the marketplace is looking for a move of about that nature. So you want to fit that into your forecast. So Amazon, they're going to be announcing on Thursday. The Friday option contracts got one one day to live. And I'm looking at doing a long call spread going into that earnings date. And I want to make sure that the strike that I'm selling in that position is going to be within that expected move. And that's how you should always approach these speculative trades around earnings."
Watch the video above to hear what Overby has to say about the election's impact on the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) and how to play it right now.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here.
This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.