NEXT WEEK'S EARNINGS PLAYS -- GOOG, CMG, GILD, XOM, LINKD

And earnings season slogs on ... . Next week there are bunch of biggies, but not all of them are worthwhile options setup plays, primarily due to liquidity. GOOG's option liquidity has never been the greatest, and CMG and LNKD have always been horrid, so right off the bat I would pass on those for options plays.

GILD -- announces earnings on 2/2 (Tues) after market close. The options have fairly good liquidity, and its implied volatility rank is currently at 74.
XOM -- announces earnings on 2/2 (Tues) before market open. Good liquidity, but the implied vol rank is not where I'd like to see it; it's currently 54, a contraction no doubt due to the bit of strength in oil we've seen the past week ... .

Moreover, with the volatility still hanging in there in the broader market (VIX is still marginally over 20), I can afford to be picky and/or not play earnings at all, since my tendency is to slack off earnings plays when the VIX above 15 and go for plays in the broader index ETF's like SPY, IWM, QQQ, and DIA ... .

Nevertheless, I'll look at a setup at least in GILD and keep an eye on XOM to see if volatility ramps up to where I'd like to see it (70+ in percentile rank).
CMGGILDGoogle (Alphabet)LNKDoptions-strategypremium-sellingXOM

Penafian