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BIDU

THE WEEK AHEAD: BIDU EARNINGS; GDXJ, EEM, VIX/VXX/UVXYEARNINGS BIDU (97/55) announces earnings on Monday after market close, so look to put on a play in the waning hours of the New York session ... . Pictured here is a September 80/120 short strangle paying 1.65 as of Friday close with delta/theta metrics of 1.57/8.07. You can naturally go defined risk, but you'll have to go in a smidge tighter with the shorts to collect one-third the width of the wings and being surgical with your strikes will be tough with 5-wides in that expiry. The September 20th 80/85/110/115 is paying 1.62 with delta/theta metrics of .26/3.20. EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS Precious metals keep on grinding in a high implied volatility state for yet another week, with the ideal rank/implied metrics remaining in GDXJ and nearly ideal ones in GDX: GLD (80/16) GDXJ (77/38) SLV (77/25) TLT (76/17) GDX (72/33) BROAD MARKET EFA (53/17) EEM (52/22) IWM (36/22) SPY (35/18) QQQ (27/22) Since I don't have anything on in EEM, I may consider putting on something longer-dated there. Using the delta neutral at-the-money short straddle test and looking for a setup that pays greater than 10% of the value of the underlying, it looks like I would have to go out to January where the 40 short straddle is paying 4.54 versus 39.54 the shares were trading at as of Friday close. The January 17th 40 short straddle pays 4.54 with break evens at 35.46/44.54 and has delta/theta metrics of 1.96/1.13 and a 25 max of 1.13; the 16 delta 34/44 short strangle pays 1.05 (.52 at 50 max) with break evens of 32.05/45.05 and delta/theta metrics of -.15/.86. I'm fine with either, but there's something to be said for having room to adjust without going inverted with the short strangle. VIX/VIX DERIVATIVES VIX finished Friday at 18.47 with the /VX term structure still in backwardation from September to December, with the August contract settling next week. I will continue to look to add at-the-money bearish assumption setups (short call verticals or long put verticals) in VIX in the front month (September) should we get additional pops to >20 and/or the same type of setup in UVXY and VXX using VIX levels as a guide. As of Friday close, the VIX September 18th 18/21 short call vertical was paying 1.10 at the mid with a break even of 19.10 versus 18.47 spot, but will probably wait for another pop to >20 to put on a similar setup.* * -- Short call verticals: short in the money, long out of the money, paying one-third the width of the spread. Long put verticals: short out of the money, long in the money, paying less than one-third the width in debit. Short call verticals with the same strikes as a long put vertical have the same risk, so it's a matter of taste and/or the practicalities of having a bunch of different plays on in the same expiry as to which you use. For example, you can layer on same strike long put verticals over short call verticals without inadvertently "stepping on" the short call verticals you have on. As compared to VIX options -- which settle to cash, with UVXY and VXX, there's naturally some assignment risk, so I lean toward short call verticals in those particular instruments, since I'd rather be short shares if assigned.
NASDAQ:BIDU
by NaughtyPines
THE WEEK AHEAD: AAPL, GILD, X, BIDU; GDXJ, /NGEARNINGS On initial screen for high rank/high implied, here are next week's potential winners for earnings-related volatility contraction plays: AAPL (31/27) (Tuesday after market close), X (52/54) (Thursday after market close), GILD (30/27) (Tuesday after market close), and BIDU (50/41) (Tuesday, but unspecified as to before or after market close). Because background implied on both AAPL and GILD are <50% (not what I like to see to play an earnings-related volatility contraction), those are cut from the list, leaving X and BIDU. Pictured here is a tight short strangle in the September cycle paying 1.11/.56 at 50 max as of Friday close, with break evens at 12.89/18.11, and delta/theta metrics of 2.59/1.74. You can naturally go full on short straddle, but giving the setup some room between the put and call will give you the ability to adjust the strikes intra-trade without going inverted to do so, as you might have to if you went with the September 20th 15 short straddle, which is paying 2.29/.57 at 25 max with break evens at 12.71/17.29, and has delta/theta metrics of -10.62/1.99. The rather unfortunate thing about BIDU is it's an ADR, so the precise announcement date and time is always up in the air until the last moment. That being said, the Sept 20th 95/100/130/135 iron condor is paying 1.46 at the mid (.73 at 50 max), has break evens at 98.54/131.46, and has -.17/1.82 delta/theta metrics. Naturally, I'd ordinarily like to collect one-third the width of the wings in credit, but it's hard to see what that will actually pay with markets showing wide in off hours. BROAD MARKET IWM (11/15) EEM (7/16) QQQ (6/15) SPY (6/12) EFA 0/11 VIX 12.16 Because of low implied in "local expiries" (<45 days 'til expiry or less), I've been going out a little farther in time than usual, taking advantage of implied volatility term structure,* which currently slopes from longer-dated expiries into this current state of affairs, (See RUT Iron Condor Trade, below), with the small added bonus being that longer-dated expiry implied volatility tends to expand less relative to shorter-dated implied volatility in the event of a "local" volatility pop, which is the usual concern with selling premium in low volatility environments. Naturally, I'm not going all crazy with these longer-dated setups, but staying small and keeping powder dry for more favorable volatility metrics in shorter duration expiries. SECTOR EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS Top Funds By Rank: GDXJ (78/35), GDX (53/29), SLV (48/20), GLD (39/12), TLT (25/10), SMH (25/24), USO (23/32), XOP (20/30). GDXJ continues to have ideal exchange-traded fund metrics of >70 rank, greater than 35 implied for premium selling ... . IRA TRADES I pulled the trigger on a couple of "not a penny mores" last week in XLP and XLU. Suffice it to say, I did not get stellar credit collection/cost basis reduction for these, since we're far away from the prices at which I want to acquire, but will look to roll out on weakness and/or in increased volatility. It's either stick something out there and get paid to wait or wait for lower and get paid nothing ... . HONORABLE MENTIONS /NG, UNG: Natural gas is around 52-week lows here. Generally, I look for a seasonality play where "peak injection" has historically set up, but it's generally a crap shoot as to where that will occur (that pesky Mother Nature), and it's usually later in the year. I'm watching it, but won't get particularly excited to enter something bullish until we break 2.00. Ideally, I'm looking to get in at around that 2016 low ... . * -- You can see this in RUT, with August implied at 15.3%, September at 16.1%, October at 16.7%, and December at 17.6%.
NYSE:X
by NaughtyPines
BIDU Long - long term target 220 & short term 190Jumped up 13% from $167 to $185 share on April 9th, then dropped 9% to today April 15th. IS THIS headed upwards trajectory again towards $190? 60 billion Market Cap, PE around 14, this sure looks like a screaming buy with the population of China. Worlds one third population will be using BIDU not Google. How ingrained is this company in the modern Chinese way of life? Is it comparable, at all, to the way Amazon and Google were ingrained 20 years ago here in the U.S. and are ingrained today?
NASDAQ:BIDULong
by raja4u
THE WEEK AHEAD: M EARNINGS, XOP, TSLA, FCX, X, TWTR, BIDUPictured here is the only earnings announcement-related volatility contraction play with the metrics I'm looking for: greater than 70% rank and greater than 50% 30-day (it was 68/55 as of Friday close). Setup Metrics: 3.40 credit, break evens at 20.60/27.40, -8.20 delta, 3.1 theta. Obvious alternatives would be the April 18th 21/27 short strangle paying 1.21 with break evens at 19.79/28.21, a delta of -4.5, and theta of 2.43 and -- for those with a defined risk bent -- the 19/22/26/29 iron condor in the same expiry, paying 1.23 with 20.77/27.23 break evens, a -2.64 delta, and a theta of 1.15. On the exchange-traded fund front, the highest volatility remains in petro, with OIH, XOP, and USO taking the top three spots for 30-day implied at 31, 30, and 29, respectively, followed by EWZ at 29, and GDXJ at 26. With the exception of GDXJ, however, all of these are in the lower one quarter of their 52-week range (GDXJ's in the 31st percentile). As with last week, I'll continue to sell premium in XOP, albeit smaller than usual, reserving buying power for a richer volatility environment. Single names with earnings in the rear view ranked by 30-day: TSLA (12/49), FCX (24/43), X (18/43), TWTR (8/38), and BIDU (24/35). I'm in a FCX slightly bullish short straddle at 14 as a kind of quasi-bullish copper play, and have gone with a "not a penny more" short put in X (See Posts Below). As alternative plays, the X April 18th 24 short straddle is paying 2.83 (.71 at 25% max) with the 21/27 short strangle paying .84 (.42 at 50% max) The TWTR April 18th 32 short straddle is paying 3.61 at the mid (.90 at 25% max) with the 28/35 short strangle paying 1.19 (.60 at 50% max) in the same expiry. Spreads in both TSLA and BIDU are unattractively wide.
NYSE:M
by NaughtyPines
THE WEEK AHEAD: TEVA, BIDU, RIG, XOPBIDU (44/42), RIG (33/56), and TEVA (49/53) announce earnings this week, with TEVA looking for a March to April volatility contraction of about 15%, BIDU, approximately 7.7%, and RIG, 6.9%. Instead of looking to play these pre-announcement for a volatility contraction (the contraction percentages aren't that compelling), I'll look to potentially short put/acquire/cover instead,* particularly since all of these underlyings have been hammered of late and are at the low end of their 52-week ranges. Pictured here is a Plain Jane, TEVA 20-ish delta 16 short put in the April expiry; it's paying .51 with a break even of 15.49. The more aggressive 30 would be at the 17 strike and is currently paying .79 with a 16.21 break even. On margin, the 16 short ties up about 320 to put on, the 17, 340, with respective returns on capital of 16% and 23% at max. The break evens represent a 15% discount over current price for the 16 short put; an 11% discount for the 17. The BIDU April 18th 155 (25 delta) is paying a 4.55 credit with a break even of 150.45, a potential 14.7% return on capital at max and a 11.4% discount over current price if assigned. As with TEVA, there is little point in holding shares if you don't have to, since it does not pay a divvy. If you end up in-the-money, roll as is and proceed to sell calls against to reduce cost basis. If you're not into tying up 31.00 in buying power on Baidu, there is RIG. Unfortunately, due to its size, you're going to have to go closer to the money to make it worthwhile in dollar and cents terms: the April 15th 8 short put (40 delta) is paying .57 with a break even of 7.43 -- a 35.6% potential return on capital at max and a 10.3% discount over current price if assigned. On the exchange-traded fund front, not much is hopping from a premium selling standpoint with VIX dropping into the 15's from its 2018 year-end highs of 36+, so I'll be looking to hand sit and keep powder dry for a higher volatility environment to get into nondirectional setups in broad market instruments. That being said, I will continue to sell premium in XOP, where the 30-day implied is over twice that of the broader market (34.1% versus SPY 15%). * -- The natural alternative should you not be interested in acquiring shares would be to roll the short put out in time "as is" if it hasn't worked out and then proceed to cover with a short call. The last two dividends were a paltry .07, so I could see not wanting to tie up buying power to be in the shares unless you absolutely have to.
NYSE:TEVA
by NaughtyPines