One Way To Trade CSCO After It Missed Earnings

Earnings, Unusual Options, Volatility

Networking giant Cisco Systems (CSCO) dropped 5% the day after earnings were released last week.  The company’s’ guidance was disappointing to investors and revenues were lower than expected.  However, one trader used this opportunity to enter a covered call trade.  The trader purchased 1.35 million shares of CSCO (at $51.77) while selling 13,500 calls that expire in March at the 60 strike.  This trade collects some premium from the short calls but gives CSCO quite a bit of room to run higher without capping the gains.