Ulta Salon, Inc. (ULTA) is a beauty retailer, who provides salon products and salon services. The stock is currently trading around $153.80 at the upper end of its 52 week range of $83.54-$158.97. The stock has been outperforming the market this year rallying 20.34% year to date. ULTA is scheduled to report earnings after the bell today, and the stock is falling ahead of the release. ULTA is lower on the session by around $0.98 or 0.63% ahead of the closing bell.

Over the past 12 quarters ULTA has rallied on earnings day 10 times with an average move of 11.57%. ULTA however appears bullish on a chart going into the release having risen $5.50 over the past couple days. Over the past 12 quarters ULTA has rallied from earnings to the nearest options expiration 10 times with an average move of 11.60%.The stock looks as if it could continue its trend and rip to the upside in today’s session. The area between the Senkou Span A line and the Senkou Span B line appears to be consistently changing its trend. Investors are looking to see how pulling back on discounts as well as revamping the loyalty program will affect the average order value. Other points to watch for are results from heavier investing in better messaging, more targeted promotions and employee training.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $14.4 or 9.40% in ULTA by this Friday’s close giving us targets of $139.4 and $168.2.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) provides a security platform to aid businesses, government entities and other organizations to restrict the number of applications running on their networks to prevent breaches. The stock is currently trading around $162.50 at the upper end of its 52 week range of $66.77-$165.09. The stock has been outperforming the market this year rallying 32.72% year to date. PANW is scheduled to report earnings after the bell today, Wednesday the 27th, and the stock is selling off ahead of the release. PANW is lower on the session by around $1.34 ahead of the closing bell.

Over the past 8 quarters PANW has rallied on earnings day 6 times with an average move of 6.30%. PANW also appears bullish on a chart going into the release. The stock has been trading above the Ichimoku Cloud for around 4 weeks, and looks as if it could rip to the upside in today’s session. The area between the Senkou Span A line and the Senkou Span B line appears to be steadily maintaining its size indicating a trend that is harder to reverse. This cloud continues maintaining its size still indicating a bullish outlook. Due to the stock’s historical performance on earnings day and strong technical data, it is hard to justify anything but a bullish trade in PANW.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $9.00 or 5.5% in PANW by next Friday’s close giving us an upside target around $171.50.

AutoZone, Inc. (AZO) distributes and sells automotive accessories as well as replacement parts in the United States. The stock is currently trading around $690.18 at the upper end of its 52 week range of $491.93-$705.00. The stock has been outperforming the market this year rallying 11.75% year to date. AZO is scheduled to report earnings before the bell on Tuesday the 26th, and the stock is selling off ahead of the release. AZO is lower on the session by around $1.21 ahead of the holiday weekend.

Over the past 12 quarters DE has rallied on earnings day 8 times with an average move of 2.14%. The stock has also rallied 8 times in 12 quarters from earnings day to the nearest options expiration. AZO also appears bullish on a chart going into the release. The stock has been trading above the Ichimoku Cloud since mid-February, and looks as if it could continue higher in today’s session. The Ichimoku Cloud appears to be growing in size indicating a trend that is harder to reverse. This cloud continues 26 bars in the future shrinking only slightly in size still indicating a bullish outlook. Due to the stock’s historical performance on earnings day and strong technical data, it is hard to justify anything but a bullish trade in AZO.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $32 or 4.6% in AZO by next Friday’s close giving us an upside target around $722.18.

Deere and Company (DE) operates in three major segments including manufacturing and distributing, construction and forestry, and financial services. The stock is currently trading at the upper end of its 52 week range of $78.88-$93.78 around $89.71. The stock has been underperforming the market this year rallying a measly 1.25% year to date. DE is scheduled to report earnings before the bell tomorrow, and the stock appears fairly strong ahead of the release. DE is higher on the session by around $0.76 ahead of the report.

Over the past 12 quarters DE has sold off on earnings day 10 times with an average move of 2.63%. The stock has also sold off 10 times in 12 quarters from earnings day to the nearest options expiration. DE also appears quite flat on a chart going into the release. The stock is trading close to the bottom of the Ichimoku Cloud on the daily bar, and looks as if it could break to the downside in today’s session. The Kinjun-Sen line, similar to a 30 period DMA, appears flat on the chart as well. Due to the stock’s historical performance on earnings day and weak technical data, it is hard to justify anything but a bearish trade in DE.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $2.54 or 2.8% in DE by this Friday’s close giving us a downside target around $87.10.

Potential Trade: Buying the DE May 22nd Weekly 88-87 Put Spreads for $0.30
Risk: $30 per 1 lot
Reward: $70 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $87.70

L Brands, Inc. (LB) is a women’s intimate, beauty and personal care products retailer. The stock is currently trading at the upper end of its 52 week range of $55.33-$95.78 around $88.63. The stock has been trading fairly strong this year with shares appreciating around 2.4% year to date. LB is scheduled to report earnings after the bell today, and the stock appears to have gained some ground ahead of the release. LB is higher on the session by around 0.44% or $0.38.

Over the past 8 quarters LB has sold off on earnings day 4 times and ripped up 4 times with an average move of 1.50%. LB also appears very weak on a chart over the past 2 months and going into the release after the bell today. The stock is trading at the bottom of the Ichimoku Cloud on the daily bar, and appears as if it could break to the downside in today’s session. With earnings coming up and the stock looking bearish on the chart it is hard to justify anything but a bearish trade in LB.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $4.60 or 5.2% in LB by this Friday’s close giving us a downside target around $84.03.L Brands, Inc. (LB) is a women’s intimate, beauty and personal care products retailer. The stock is currently trading at the upper end of its 52 week range of $55.33-$95.78 around $88.63. The stock has been trading fairly strong this year with shares appreciating around 2.4% year to date. LB is scheduled to report earnings after the bell today, and the stock appears to have gained some ground ahead of the release. LB is higher on the session by around 0.44% or $0.38.

Over the past 8 quarters LB has sold off on earnings day 4 times and ripped up 4 times with an average move of 1.50%. LB also appears very weak on a chart over the past 2 months and going into the release after the bell today. The stock is trading at the bottom of the Ichimoku Cloud on the daily bar, and appears as if it could break to the downside in today’s session. With earnings coming up and the stock looking bearish on the chart it is hard to justify anything but a bearish trade in LB.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $4.60 or 5.2% in LB by this Friday’s close giving us a downside target around $84.03.

Etsy, Inc. (ETSY) is an online marketplace seeking to connect individuals to aid the buying and selling of goods. The company’s stock is currently trading towards the bottom of the 52 week range of $19.15-$35.74 around $21.17. The stock has been relatively weak this year with shares falling around $9.37 or 31.23% year to date. ETSY is set to report earnings after the bell today and the stock is looking fairly strong ahead of the release. ETSY stock is higher on the session by around $0.48 or 2.33% ahead of the report.

However, the stock is likely under pressure this year due to Etsy’s recent controversy over the selling of counterfeit goods where the stock tumbled 10%. Etsy has been under fire to this date for withholding information about the company’s business operations and its counterfeit products. Over the past year Etsy has increasingly been brought to public attention for trademark and copyright infringement. This will be ETSY’s first earnings ever. The stock also looks weak on a chart with a downward trend ever since the company’s IPO in the middle of April this year. With a bearish historical performance record and a weak technical setup it is difficult to justify anything but a short in ETSY.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $3.65 or 17.30% in ETSY by this Friday’s close giving us a downside target around $17.52.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) is a global retailer for clothing and personal care products. The stock is currently trading at the upper end of its 52 week range of $10.12-$18.12 around $15.68. The stock has been trading strongly this year relative to the market with shares appreciating around 13% year to date. AEO is scheduled to report earnings before the bell tomorrow, and the stock is looking fairly weak ahead of the release. AEO is lower on the session by around 1.9% ahead of the report.

The stock is likely lower today due to American Eagle’s weak historical record on earnings day. Over the past 12 quarters AEO has sold off on earnings day 8 times with an average move of 8.17%. The stock has also sold off 7 times in 12 quarters from earnings day to the nearest options expiration. AEO also appears very weak on a chart going into the release. The stock is trading at the bottom of the Ichimoku Cloud on the daily bar, and looks as if it could break to the downside in today’s session. Due to the stock’s historical performance on earnings day and weak technical data, it is hard to justify anything but a bearish trade in AEO.

The options market is currently implying a move of around $1.45 or 9.1% in AEO by this Friday’s close giving us a downside target around $14.23.

Potential Bearish Earnings Trade: Buying the AEO May 22nd Weekly 15-14 Put Spreads for $0.25
Risk: $25 per 1 lot
Reward: $75 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $14.75

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) closed today’s trading session around $73.35, gaining just over 5.3% on the day. BBBY has been trading in a 52 week range of $54.96-$79.64. The stock has been underperforming the market this year with shares falling by 3.7% year to date. Although investors may be unhappy with the stock’s performance this year options traders were able to clean up today as the stock ripped after some bullish unusual options activity it the tape.

Earlier this morning a trader bought 1,418 BBBY May 70.5 calls for $0.46 when the stock was trading $70.77. Over 4,700 contracts traded on this line as the stock ripped to session highs of $73.55. These calls exploded in value as the stock moved higher and traded as high as $2.81 on the day. This move happened in a matter of hours and the position expired on the close today. The calls closed only slightly off of their highs at $2.68. This means that a trader that bought these calls would have seen their position increase in value by a factor of 6. This is another example of a blowout UOA trade.

Trade: A Trader bought 1,418 BBBY May 70.5 calls for $0.46
Risk: $46 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $70.96

If a trader would have bought a 20 lot of these calls, risking $920, they would have profited
$4,700 at the highs.

Youku Tudou Inc.(YOKU) is a Chinese based internet television company that allows users to share video content on a broad range of devices. The company’s stock is currently trading around $22.85 in a 52 week range of $11.85-$24.60. The stock has been massively outperforming the market this year with shares rallying over 28% year to date. Options activity in the name today seems to suggest that traders are expecting this run higher to continue.

Earlier in today’s session several large blocks of calls were bought in YOKU. A trader bought nearly 3,000 YOKU May 22nd Weekly 22 calls for $1.04. Shortly after that order hit the tape another block of 1,000 YOKU May 22 calls were bought for $0.20. By the end of the day over 8.4 times YOKU’s average daily options volume had traded and at the money implied volatility touched new 52 week highs.

YOKU stock ripped higher after these calls were bought and gained over 17% on the trading day. These calls moved higher as well with the May 22nd Weekly 22 calls trading as high as $2.00 on the day and the May 22 calls trading as high as $0.95 making both of these trades absolute blowout winners. These trades are amazing examples of how following unusual options activity in weekly and short expiration options can lead to huge profits.

Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) is currently trading around $27.00 in a 52 week range of $21.01-$30.84. The stock has been performing relatively well this year with shares rallying more than 7.5% year to date. CS saw some interesting unusual options activity in today’s session and traders quick enough to follow it saw some very nice profits.

Early in the session a trader bought 1,100 CS Jun 27 Calls for $0.75. By the end of the day nearly 12,000 contracts traded on that line and nearly 5 times the average daily options volume in CS had come across the tape. The stock moved to the upside after these calls hit and the calls did as well. At the highs of the session these calls traded as high as $0.90 on the day making this a very profitable trade in a short period of time. With CS trading well above the cloud and showing other bullish momentum metrics it seems likely that this trend will continue.

Trade: A trader bought 1,100 CS Jun 27 Calls for $0.75
Risk: $75 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $27.75

This trade may not be an absolute blowout winner but a trader that bought a 20 lot of these calls would have profited $300 at the highs on $1500 in risk. That’s a 20% profit on risk in a matter of hours.