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The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the VIX, has been running high lately. On Monday, just as stocks were falling out of bed, the "fear gauge" opened just below 26 - a massive 19% jump from Friday's close. It opened above 21 on Tuesday morning and stayed that way.
For folks who don't live and breathe the VIX every day, what this means, in plain English, is that the wild market swings we've seen lately aren't done.
See, VIX options expire today, and the market is closed Friday to observe Christmas. In other words, the VIX has just one session between December's expirations and the holiday.
So, the wild moves we've seen there are likely just beginning, and it's very possible the volatility will intensify. But there's also a chance it will drop suddenly lower; if the market decides, for whatever reason, that it's done worrying about omicron for the moment, the speed at which volatility drops will astound you.
Fortunately, these kinds of situations can bring easy gains. I've been in touch with my Profit Revolution subscribers about trading UVXY or VXX, but you can play a handful of "vanilla" stocks to cash in on this unique situation.
Here's what to do...
The Stocks to Trade to Profit No Matter What
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is volatile right now, and implied volatility (IV) in LULU options is high. When IV is high, i.e., "expensive," you want to be a seller, not a buyer. This marquee retail name is ripe for a little "premium harvesting" right now, which means a spread is the way to go.
A credit spread is more conservative than a regular call option. You're not betting on the stock going up, per se, you're just betting on it not dropping.
In this case, it makes good sense to put together a put credit spread. I like buying the LULU June 17, 2022, puts and selling the LULU June 17, 2022 $350 at the same time. You pocket around $2,000 in premium that way.
LULU shares are about 22% off their all-time high of $485, and the stock looks real nice at $330 or below; that's where I'd want to own it.
Next on this list is Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA). This is a stock with some upside in it. It's around 6% off its 52-week high, and I live the idea of going long, because omicron is going to kick booster vaccine demand into higher gear. WBA Jan. 7, 2022 $50 calls for $2 give us a cheap way to bet on the likelihood Walgreens goes higher in January and into the new year.
And then there's AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AMC)... Oooh boy - quick story on this one. My Profit Revolution readers had the chance to pull in 400% on AMC calls last week. I was scanning for cheap options, and we took a flyer that paid off massively.
I think it's worth rolling the dice on AMC shares again. The stock has been on a bit of a tear since our big win on Friday... but I think this is the proverbial dead cat bounce. The second anything changes and this stock moves into the red, it's going to get absolutely destroyed.
A put spread is the way to go on this - I'm looking at an AMC Jan. 7, 2022 $25 put and AMC Jan. 7, 2022 $15 put debit spread. It costs just $3 or so, but that's (literally) a small price to pay for the chance at raking it in once this stock comes back down to earth.
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