I'll get the easy one out of the way first: Apple (AAPL). I'd be an idiot to get out of the day without significantly reducing the risk reversals from yesterday. These are now sitting near $6.50, so whether I was a buyer at $1.05 or up to $1.50, at least half of these should be off the table. I'm not even opposed to closing the puts as a whole. There's enough cushion to close all the puts and half the call spreads and still net $5.70 on half the position while eliminating the short puts. This would eliminate the largest risk of the position, plus it would remove 2.5x the original capital risked outside of the short puts. AAPL is approaching resistance on the charts, so some profit-taking is going to be my approach.
Apple (AAPL)
Source: StockCharts.com
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Amazon (AMZN) is the tougher one. There isn't much value left in the call spread, so I will let it ride as a lottery ticket. I should have stopped out once the stock broke $253 yesterday. That was a mistake on my part.
Verisk (VRSK)
Source: StockCharts.com
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As for earnings today, I am setting up one long and one short. On the long side, I like the consistency of Verisk Analytics (VRSK). The stock looks like it could move to the mid $60s post earnings on a solid report. My approach would be the May $60 calls around $2.25-$2.30 or the June calls for those that want more time around $2.50-$2.55.
Ultimate Software Group (ULTI)
Source: StockCharts.com
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On the short side, I am looking for The Ultimate Software Group (ULTI) to come up a penny shy on earnings per share. That may start a downward push toward the $80, which is the target of the very large cup-and-handle pattern currently playing out. The short interest is low for a stock with a huge price-earnings ratio; however, I still would not want to outright short this one as the momentum traders flock to it from time to time. My approach would be the July $90 puts at $3.20 or less or the May $95-$85 put spread around $2.
At the time of publication, Collins was long VRSK calls, AMZN call spreads and AAPL call spreads.