Written by Ophir Gottlieb

LEDE

While all the focus is on Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings, the really serious opportunity in the option market is actually after earnings.

APPLE INC AFTER EARNINGS

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a tendency after earnings to trail off. That is, the stock tends to move in one direction or the other for the following month, and that makes for a wonderful opportunity with options.

We can examine this, objectively, with a custom back-test. Here is our custom earnings set-up:

Said plainly, we will open our position one day after earnings, and close it 30 days after. We are testing using the 30-day options (monthly option) and we are buying the at-the-money (also called the "50 delta") straddle.

Here are the results over the last three-years:

That's not a typo -- that's 371% over the last three-years. Since we are only testing an one-month trade in the most recent 11 earnings releases, that return came after just 11-months of a holding period. We note that the straddle was a winner 6-times, and a loser 5-times. So, this is not a panacea, not a magic bullet, it is objective analysis that has been a giant wealth creator over time.

The trade was a winner about half of the time -- the winners were just much (much) larger than the losers. Here are the results over the last two-years:

Now we see a 183% return over the last seven earnings releases. The straddle was a winner 4-times, and it was a loser 3-times. Again, the trade was a winner about half of the time. This is a strategy, not an one-time gamble.

Finally, we examine the last-year:

That's a 55.2% return over the last three earnings releases, with 1-winning trade and 2-losing trades.

For the curious trader, it turns out the putting a stop loss in place actually yields better results over the last two-tears and one-year and takes 30% less risk. We tested that by simply doing this:

WHAT HAPPENED

Traders that have a plan guess less. This is how people profit from the option market -- it's preparation, not luck. Take an idea, test it over several periods, note the robustness of the results, and apply lessons learned.

To see how to do this for any stock and for any strategy with just the click of a few buttons, we welcome you to watch this quick demonstration video:

Tap Here to See the Tools at Work

Thanks for reading.

Risk Disclosure

You should read the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options.

Past performance is not an indication of future results.

Trading futures and options involves the risk of loss. Please consider carefully whether futures or options are appropriate to your financial situation. Only risk capital should be used when trading futures or options. Investors could lose more than their initial investment.

Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The risk of loss in trading can be substantial, carefully consider the inherent risks of such an investment in light of your financial condition.

The author is long shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock as of this writing.