THE WEEK AHEAD: LB, ARMK, TGT EARNINGS; XOP, GDXJ, KRE, IWM/RUT

EARNINGS-RELATED VOLATILITY CONTRACTION PLAYS:

LB (7/69/16.0%):* Announcing Wednesday after market close.
ARMK (11/56/13.1%): Announcing Tuesday before market open.
TGT (30/39/8.6%): Announcing Wednesday before market open.

Honorable Mentions:

LOW (23/39/8.6%): Announcing Wednesday before market open.
HD (17/31/6.7%): Announcing Tuesday before market open.
WMT (24/30/6.4%): Announcing Tuesday before market open.

Pictured here is an LB December 18th (34 days) 29/39 short strangle paying 1.99 at the mid price as of Friday close (.99 at 50% max) with 2 x expected move break evens.


EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS RANKED BY BANK FOR YOUR BUCK:

XOP (14/54/12.7%)
GDXJ (15/46/11.3%)
KRE (26/45/10.6%)
USO (6/50/10.3%)


BROAD MARKET RANKED BY BUCK BANG:

IWM (25/31/6.9%)
QQQ (23/29/6.3%)
SPY (16/23/4.9%)
EFA (17/20/4.6%)


* -- The first number is the implied volatility rank or percentile (i.e., where 30-day implied volatility is relative to where it's been over the past 52 weeks); the second, 30-day implied volatility; and the third, the percentage the December at-the-money short straddle is paying as a function of stock price.