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CSCO

THE WEEK AHEAD: NVDA, AMAT EARNINGS; MJ, USO, SLV, EEMAs of Friday close, NVDA and AMAT appear to have the volatility metrics I'm looking for in earnings-related volatility contraction play (>70 rank/>50 implied). NVDA (70/67) announces on Thursday after market close. The iron condor pictured here pays 1.73 credit with break evens wide of the expected move. AMAT (68/48) announces on Thursday after market close, with the Dec 21st 31/37 short strangle paying 1.64 (50% take profit of .82) and the 34 short straddle paying 3.89 (25% take profit of .97). On the exchange-traded front: USO (100/35), SLV (99/22), EEM (85/26), XOP (76/38), and OIH (75/36) round out the top symbols by rank, with USO, XOP, and OIH being no surprise given the beating oil has take over the past several weeks. Although I am mostly selling premium in XOP here, I could see also taking a bullish directional shot in OIH, which has broken through long-term horizontal support; XOP and XLE have yet to close in on the bottom of their long-term ranges. Alternatively, I could see doing a similar, bullish assumption play in one of the higher volatility petro underlyings that have earnings in the rear view mirror: OXY (75/30), COP (74/33), or BP (70/36), for example. ASHR (74/33) is worth a passing mention here, but if I'm going to play China, it's going to be via the more liquid FXI (65/28). MJ (--/64)* is also worth an honorable mention, with the more recognizable cannabis underlyings -- CRON, CGC, and TLRY -- all announcing earnings this week. The currently unfortunate thing about MJ is that it's not getting decent volume yet, so options liquidity isn't the best for those who'd rather not be on the single name roller coaster. As far as the majors are concerned, some volatility came out of the broad market post-mid-term elections: SPY 30-day's now at 15.3%; QQQ at 24.6%; and IWM at 22.8%, so if I'm going to add broad market short premium here, it's going to be in the Q's and/or RUT/IWM. Lastly: UNG. Last week marked a kind of WTF, weather forecast-related spike in natty, with UNG printing a new 52-week high. I was previously looking at 27.5 as an area of interest for short with 31-ish being the next stop, but thought November was too early in the natural gas seasonality cycle to be putting on a short play (usually, a downward put diagonal (See Post Below)* with the back month in April or later). Now that it's whipped through 31 in three seconds flat, I'm going to be patient here and see if it grinds higher throughout December, even though forecasts are generally calling for a "meh" winter temperature-wise. * -- It doesn't currently have a 52-week rank, since it hasn't been around that long. ** -- Naturally, that setup's no longer good. I'll post a revised setup here shortly.
NASDAQ:NVDA
by NaughtyPines
3
Cisco - Profit Potential!I think every IT company uses Cisco software or hardware, so it's no surprise that the stock price grows every month. The uptrend on the CISCO stock is because the management doing their job right. The stock, trading under $50 with a relatively low market cap near $225 billion, may be a value pick for some investors, as well as we can see a two scenario in the near-term, first, the price rises as rocket to $60 p/s (3 weeks max) or it will be trading around $50 p/s the next months. I believe in the uptrend, and I'm sure we will see $60 p/s soon. Right now we have the next data from indicators, RSI is overbought, and the MACD is doing good. The issue of this indicator(RSI) lags behind the stock market and I assure you it does not work on the uptrend. The price can easily goes higher while you thinking that is a good moment to make profit. Wait and watch. The uptrend is a movement which is not easy to stop. The MACD is better for trending stocks, and here we can see it above the centerline and its signal line - the Sign to buy and hold. Enter: $45, 46, 47 Close: $60+ Likes/Comments, Yes please :)
NASDAQ:CSCOLong
by LudwigStirner