SteadyOptions is an options trading forum where you can find solutions from top options traders. Join Us!

We’ve all been there… researching options strategies and unable to find the answers we’re looking for. SteadyOptions has your solution.

How To Trade Apple Earnings with Options


Last week Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock reached a one Trillion dollar valuation. A remarkable achievement. Of course there is nothing wrong with just buying the stock and holding it "forever". Today I would like to describe a different way to trade Apple using its options. It will also provide some insights into our trading process.

As most of our readers know, we trade non directional options strategies. That means that we don't care which direction the stock moves. Our strategies include mostly straddles, strangles and calendars around earnings.

This is how the process works:

  • Every week I post a list of trading candidates for the next week in Earnings Trades Discussions forum.
  • I post a separate topic for each candidate I think it suitable, with analysis of the suggested prices, average move, previous cycle etc.
  • The topic will always include a link to one of the relevant strategy topics above. This allows members to do their homework and to see if they like the potential trade.
  • I will try to get the trade at the best possible price.
  • When I do, I post it under the Trades forum.


Apple was scheduled to report earnings on July 31. Two weeks before earnings, we noticed that AAPL pre earnings calendar looks cheap. A discussion topic has been opened (please note the discussion topic is always opened before the trade is placed):

image.png

This evaluation was based on proprietary software developed by one of our members. The software is designed to show the RV (Relative Value) of the strategies we trade in the last 8 cycles and compared them to the current cycle.

This is how it looked for AAPL:

image.png

The blue line is the RV in July 2017 cycle. The black line is the average of the previous 8 cycles. As you can see, the blue line was around 0.5% RV at T-10 (which is when the discussion topic was opened) while the black line had the potential to reach 0.65% RV or higher. That's 30%+ profit potential.

RV means "the price of the calendar as percentage of the stock price." With the stock price around $190, RV of 0.5% translates to $0.95 per spread. 

Based on the setup described in the discussion topic, the trade was opened later that day:

image.png

Please note that this was a half position (5 contracts, based on $10k model portfolio). We usually start with half position and open another half few days later.

Some members actually got better prices the same day:

image.png

A week later when the stock moved to $193.30, we opened the second half of the trade:

image.png

It is interesting that some members opened the second half even before the "official" alert went out, at the same prices:

image.png

Those members follow our recommendation of "learn the strategies and make them your own". They are able now to be much more independent and act based on our discussion topics, without waiting for the "official" alerts.

On July 30 (one day before earnings) I closed the first half of the trade:

image.png

And explained the reasoning on the discussion topic:

image.png

And few hours later closed the second half as well:

Capture.PNG

How other members did with this trade?

image.png

I hope this trade provided some insights into our trading process, community collaboration etc. 

Some people ask us what is our "secret sauce". The answer is: there is no "secret sauce". There are NO secret strategies. It's just hard work, a lot of discipline, risk management and backtesting. This is our "secret sauce". 

And of course in our case, it is an incredible value of our trading community. 

Want to learn more? Start your Free Trial

Related articles:

What Is SteadyOptions?

12 Years CAGR of 114.5%

Full Trading Plan

Complete Portfolio Approach

Real-time trade sharing: entry, exit, and adjustments

Diversified Options Strategies

Exclusive Community Forum

Steady And Consistent Gains

High Quality Education

Risk Management, Portfolio Size

Performance based on real fills

Subscribe to SteadyOptions now and experience the full power of options trading!
Subscribe

Non-directional Options Strategies

10-15 trade Ideas Per Month

Targets 5-7% Monthly Net Return

Visit our Education Center

Recent Articles

Articles

  • Optimizing Portfolio Growth: Managing Capital and Liabilities in Modern Tax Planning

    Growing your investment portfolio involves more than just picking winners. While strong returns are the goal, many investors overlook a critical factor that significantly impacts their net worth: tax planning. Managing your capital and liabilities with taxes in mind isn't just about saving money in April. It's a year-round strategy that can accelerate your portfolio's growth and help you keep more of what you earn.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 537 views
  • Expanded Trading Hours for Select Equity Options

    The Cboe Options Exchange will start offering expanded trading hours for select high-liquidity single-stock equity options. The schedule features a morning Global Trading Hours (GTH) session from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET and an afternoon Curb session from 4:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 628 views
  • How LEAPS Differ From Short-Term Options

    LEAPS stands for Long-Term Equity Anticipation Security. Which is just a long-dated option, typically referring to those with expirations more than a year out. There’s no technical difference between LEAPS and shorter-term options other than the expiration date. They’re traded on the same exchanges and have the same rules surrounding margin and whatnot.

    By Pat Crawley,

    • 0 comments
    • 31205 views
  • Why Not to Hold Strangles Through Earnings

    In my previous article, I described a strategy of buying a long strangle a few days before earnings and selling them just before earnings. In this article, I will show why it might be not a good idea to keep those strangles through earnings.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 6093 views
  • Pre-Earnings Entry Price: What 31,000 Cycles Say

    Every card in the scanner carries a block called How expensive is this entry? It compares what you would pay today against what the same setup cost on the same ticker at the same point in past cycles. I built that block in August. It reads well. But a reading that looks sensible and a reading that predicts something are different things, and until last week I had only the first.

     

    By Romuald,

    • 3 comments
    • 672 views
  • Expensive Compared to What?

    A trader looks at a pre-earnings straddle and asks whether it is expensive. It is the right instinct and the wrong question, because the word carries no meaning on its own. Expensive against what? A $12 straddle on a $200 stock is not expensive or cheap. It is $12.

    By Romuald,

    • 0 comments
    • 550 views
  • Beyond Strategies: What Options Traders Should Know

    Options education almost always begins with structures. Traders learn vertical spreads, calendars, butterflies, condors, covered calls and straddles, study the expiration diagrams, work out maximum profit and loss, and build a sense of the conditions each structure is supposed to suit. That foundation is necessary and there is no way around it.

    By Kim,

    • 0 comments
    • 1086 views
  • SPX vs SPY Options: Which One Should You Trade? (2026 Guide)

    Both SPX and SPY options give you exposure to the S&P 500. They track the same 500 stocks, move nearly tick-for-tick, and offer the same core strategies — credit spreads, iron condors, butterflies, and 0DTE trades. Yet the two products settle differently, are taxed differently, and carry very different assignment risks.

    By krisbee,

    • 0 comments
    • 5196 views
  • Strike Price Effects Or Pinning Revisted

    Loyal readers of this blog will recall my post from 2019 “Pinning Down the ‘Option Pinning’”. If you have not heard of pinning have a look at that article as – spoiler – everything in it as well as Jeff Augen’s observations in his books which are referenced is still valid.

    By TrustyJules,

    • 0 comments
    • 2344 views
  • Could This Strategy Be The Holy Grail Of Investing?

    This is a reprint of my Seeking Alpha article from 2013. If you have SA subscription, you can read the full article including hundreds of comments here. For the record, the strategy implementation has changed since then, but the principle remains the same. You can read more here

    By Kim,

    • 6 comments
    • 5764 views

  Report Article


We want to hear from you!


There are no comments to display.



Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...