Pre-earnings Momentum Trade With a Technical Trigger in First American Financial Corporation
First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) : Pre-earnings Momentum Trade With a Technical Trigger
Date Published: 2019-04-03
Disclaimer
The results here are provided for general informational purposes from the CMLviz Trade Machine Stock Option Backtester as a convenience to the readers. The materials are not a substitute for obtaining professional advice from a qualified person, firm or corporation.Preface
There is a bullish momentum pattern in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) stock 3 trading days before earnings. Further, we use moving averages as a safety valve to try to avoid opening a bullish position while a stock is in a technical break down, like the fourth quarter of 2018.LOGIC
The logic behind the option trading backtest is easy to understand -- in a any market there can be a stock rise ahead of earnings on optimism, or upward momentum, that sets in just 3-trading days before an earnings date. That phenomenon has been well documented by Capital market Laboratories in our seminal webinar on market patterns.That is, totally irrespective of the reality that follows -- that is, irrespective of whether the stocks have a history of actually rising after earnings. There has been a way to profit from this pattern without taking any formal earnings risk in First American Financial Corporation.
The Bullish Option Trade Before Earnings in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF)
We will examine the outcome of getting long a weekly call option in First American Financial Corporation 3-days before earnings (using trading days) and selling the call before the earnings announcement if and only if the stock price is above the 50-day simple moving average.Here's the set-up in great clarity; again, note that the trade closes before earnings, so this trade does not make a bet on the earnings result.
And here is the technical requirement -- note only one is "turned on," and that is the 50-day moving average requirement.:
If the stock price fails the technical requirement, it's fine, we just put a pin in it and check next quarter.
RISK MANAGEMENT
We can add another layer of risk management to the back-test by instituting and 40% stop loss and a 40% limit gain. Here is that setting:
In English, at the close of each trading day we check to see if the long option is either up or down 40% relative to the open price. If it was, the trade was closed.
RESULTS
Here are the results over the last three-years in First American Financial Corporation:| FAF: Long 40 Delta Call | |||
| % Wins: | 75% | ||
| Wins: 6 | Losses: 2 | ||
| % Return: | 575.2% | ||
Tap Here to See the Back-test
The mechanics of the TradeMachine® stock option backtester are that it uses end of day prices for every back-test entry and exit (every trigger).
Notice that while this is a 3-year back-test and we would expect four times that many earnings triggers (4 earnings per year), the technical requirement using the 50-day moving average has avoided 4 pre-earnings attempts. In other words -- it's working.
We see a 575.2% return, testing this over the last 8 earnings dates in First American Financial Corporation. That's a total of just 24 days (3-days for each earnings date, over 8 earnings dates). This has been the results of following the trend of bullish sentiment into earnings while avoiding the actual earnings result.
We can also see that this strategy hasn't been a winner all the time, rather it has won 6 times and lost 2 times, for a 75% win-rate and again, that 575.2% return in less than six-full months of trading. The trade will lose sometimes, but over the most recent trading history, this momentum and optimism options trade has won ahead of earnings.
Setting Expectations
While this strategy had an overall return of 575.2%, the trade details keep us in bounds with expectations:➡ The average percent return per trade was 76.21%.
Checking the Moving Average
You can check to see if the 50-day MA for FAF is above or below the current stock price by using the Pivot Points tab on www.CMLviz.com.Back-testing More Time Periods in First American Financial Corporation
Now we can look at just the last year as well:
| FAF: Long 40 Delta Call | |||
| % Wins: | 100.00% | ||
| Wins: 2 | Losses: 0 | ||
| % Return: | 85.1% | ||
Tap Here to See the Back-test
We're now looking at 85.1% returns, on 2 winning trades and 0 losing trades.
➡ The average percent return over the last year per trade was 44.64%.
WHAT HAPPENED
There's a better way -- try pattern recognition. Tap here to try it for yourselfRisk 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.
Please note that the executions and other statistics in this article are hypothetical, and do not reflect the impact, if any, of certain market factors such as liquidity and slippage.
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