30Jul12:21 pmEST
Fighting Your Greatest Opponent
"Your biggest opponent isn't the other guy. It's human nature." - Bob Knight
There is a tendency from traders, most likely due to human nature, during earnings season to more or less temporarily forget about a given name after they have reported, especially if there is no dramatic reaction by the stock. However, doing so may come at the expense of an actionable opportunity.
Thus, it may be instructive, especially during such a busy week like this one is, to avoid other distractions and focus on some names which already reported.
Case in point: Netflix, one of the market's mega cap monsters, looks like a post-earnings short setup to my eye.
On the updated NFLX daily chart, below, we can see the big reversal candle from two weeks ago as the earnings move. However, all things considered volatility sellers still won the day as there was not an overall outsized move relative to the options pricing leading into the event. Be that as it may, the stock looks like it is still set up to move lower down and out of the 100-day moving average (white/gray line) consolidation with not much in the way of post-earnings buying interest.
Elsewhere, natural gas staged a nice red/green reversal this morning after yesterday's first sign of life in a while for the commodity. I like it for a relief rally, at a minimum, just when most have shunned it once again after the recent slide.