EARNINGS:
Next week's earnings announcements are light, with options liquid underlying to play for volatility contract even lighter.
BBBY (52/119/18.8%*) announces on Wednesday after market close, so look to put on a play before the end of Wednesday's session. Pictured here is a July 17th (12 days) 11 short straddle, paying 2.03 as of Friday close, 18.8% of where the stock was trading at 10.81. Look to take profit at 25% max or otherwise manage the trade by rolling out to August if it doesn't work out fairly immediately.
DAL (43/89/12.3%*) also announces this week on Thursday. A July setup isn't paying much, so I'd be inclined to go out to August to make it more compelling, where the 23/36 short strangle paid 1.83 as of Friday close.
EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS ORDERED BY RANK/PERCENTILE AND SCREENED FOR >35% IMPLIED:
EWW (37/37/15.0%**)
EWZ (37/56/10.5%)
GDXJ (34/53/14.6%)
XLE (33/45/14.6%)
GDX (28/39/12.7%)
XOP (22/57/16.3%)
USO (9/51/13.2%)
The most bang for your buying power buck appears to lie in XOP, followed by EWW, XLE, and GDXJ.
BROAD MARKET:
IWM (41/36/10.0%)
IWM is the only broad market exchange-traded fund where the background implied remains greater than 35.
IRA DIVIDEND GENERATORS:
EWZ (37/56/10.5%)
... and EWZ the only dividend generator with a 30-day greater than 35.
* * *
Broad market volatility has come in quite a bit here, but SPY 30-day implied at 27.2% isn't exactly a "low volatility environment" either. Nevertheless, it's not a bad thing to sit back, let powder dry out a little bit in preparation for the next volatility wave and/or more productive earnings announcements, particularly with underlyings like NFLX, MSFT, and IBM announcing next week, along with a number of financials: C (36/55), WFC (45/54), BAC (33/48), JPM (32/43), MS (30/45), and GS (27/41).
* -- Percentage of stock price the July 17th short straddle was paying as of Friday close.
** -- Percentage of stock price the August 21st short straddle was paying as of Friday close.