You wouldn't have known it last week with all the inauguration hoopla, but we're in earnings season. Now that the hoopla's in the rear view mirror, earnings will take the market stage (and, yes, a bit of digesting of what all "the hoopla" meant).
SPY et al. (Broad Market)
From a premium seller's perspective, "SPY and friends" continues to be an unproductive area in which to sell premium unless you're willing to go out farther in time. (See SPY April Iron Condor Trade Idea, below).
Earnings
There are some "big names" coming up this week (BABA, MSFT, CAT), but not all currently have the metrics that would make premium selling hugely productive (>70% implied volatility rank/>50% implied volatality). I'm keeping an eye on BABA, EBAY, and SBUX, but their implied volatility needs to pop a bit before I'm willing to play.
Non-Earnings
GDXJ remains the only non-earnings underlying with decent liquidity and the right volatility metrics for a play. I already have one on. (See GDXJ Post Below).
VIX/VIX Derivatives
Any way, you cut it, VIX is low here, having caved mightily into Friday's opex close to sub-12.
Consequently, I'm loathe to pile into further VIX "Term Structure" trades here, since I already have a March 16/19 short call vert on, as well as April 17/20, and I could easily see a modest (or not so modest) VIX rise to 14.0-ish (what the Feb /VX future is currently trading at) if the market gets indigestion processing what exactly "Trump World" will look like going forward ... .
SPY et al. (Broad Market)
From a premium seller's perspective, "SPY and friends" continues to be an unproductive area in which to sell premium unless you're willing to go out farther in time. (See SPY April Iron Condor Trade Idea, below).
Earnings
There are some "big names" coming up this week (BABA, MSFT, CAT), but not all currently have the metrics that would make premium selling hugely productive (>70% implied volatility rank/>50% implied volatality). I'm keeping an eye on BABA, EBAY, and SBUX, but their implied volatility needs to pop a bit before I'm willing to play.
Non-Earnings
GDXJ remains the only non-earnings underlying with decent liquidity and the right volatility metrics for a play. I already have one on. (See GDXJ Post Below).
VIX/VIX Derivatives
Any way, you cut it, VIX is low here, having caved mightily into Friday's opex close to sub-12.
Consequently, I'm loathe to pile into further VIX "Term Structure" trades here, since I already have a March 16/19 short call vert on, as well as April 17/20, and I could easily see a modest (or not so modest) VIX rise to 14.0-ish (what the Feb /VX future is currently trading at) if the market gets indigestion processing what exactly "Trump World" will look like going forward ... .
