Market activity is ramping up before the end of the year, with a number of economic indicators for investors to analyze as they hit December's halfway point. A two-day Federal Reserve meeting is on tap for Wednesday and Tuesday. Mid-week is also  jam-packed with production and capacity utilization data, as well as import price and manufacturing indexes. Retail sales, housing starts and inventories data, are also on tap, as well as the weekly jobless claims update. 

As for earnings, a handful of major companies will step into the earnings confessional before the open on Thursday, such as Lennar (LEN), Carnival (CCL), Navistar (NAV) and General Mills (GIS). By the end of the day Friday, FedEx (FDX) and Nike (NKE) will also have reported earnings.

Below is a list of key market events scheduled for the upcoming week. All economic dates listed below are tentative and subject to change.

The week will be off to a relatively slow start on Monday, December 14, except for the monthly oil market report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Tuesday, December 15 will be busier, with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) two-day meeting kicking off. Industrial production and capacity utilization data are also due out. In addition, the import price and Empire State manufacturing indexes are on tap.

By Wednesday, December 16, the Fed meeting will wrap up, and attention will shift to retail sales data, as well as the Markit manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) index is also scheduled to come out, and so is business inventories data. Rounding out the day is an announcement from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Thursday, December 17, shows no signs of slowing down, featuring the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index, as well as building permits and housing starts data. The usual initial and continuing jobless claims data will also be released then.

The weeks finally slows down on Friday, December 18, though last month's leading economic indicators will be reported that day.

Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:SAVE) is an American discount airline company. The company is also the eighth largest commercial airline in North America. Spirit Airlines flight destinations include the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Like most travel stocks, Spirit stock has taken its fair share of a beating amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the widespread travel restrictions, and stay-at-home orders. With the vaccine now on the horizon, let's take a deep dive into how much damage Spirit stock has taken during the pandemic, and how much upside Spirit Airlines stock potentially has.

Spirit Airlines stock has seen a whopping 33% decrease in 2020. At its 52-week low, Spirit stock reached a price of $7.01, but Spirit Airlines stock has recovered 278% since this bottom. Longer-term, Spirit stock reached its 52-week high of $47.49 early in the year.

While the next batch of Spirit earnings are too far into the future to consider in this analysis, it's important to take a look at how the company has performed against Wall Street expectations over the past 12 months. When a company tops expectations and the stock drops, this outcome suggests investor expectations were perhaps unreasonably high ahead of the earnings report release. Conversely, when a stock price increases in the face of weaker-than-expected results, it's likely because investors (and Wall Street) had their expectations set too low. While earnings reports are certainly more short-term catalysts for stock movement, knowledge of expectations and reality for the past year is critical to a complete fundamental analysis of a stock.

Spirit Airlines stock has beat expectations on half of its most recent quarterly earnings reports. In the fourth quarter of 2019, ahead of the COVID-19 crisis, Spirit stock beat expectations by $0.02, reporting an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24. In the first quarter of 2020, Spirit Airlines stock reported an EPS that had turned negative. Spirit Airlines reported an EPS of -$0.86 missing expectations by a margin of $0.24. Spirit stock reported another huge decline in EPS for the second quarter of 2020. Spirit reported an axed EPS of -$3.59, missing expectations by an incredible margin of $0.93. In its most recent quarter, Spirit Airlines stock reported an EPS of -$2.32, beating expectation by $0.32. At this time, Wall Street is expecting Spirit stock to report an EPS of -1.40 for the fourth quarter of 2020

Starting off with Spirit Airlines' balance sheet, the company has definitely experienced a spike in debt that should be expected given the catastrophe that struck the travel sector this year. Spirit's total debt currently stands at $4.82 billion. On the flip side, however, the airline company is surprisingly in okay standing, with about $2 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

Not surprisingly, Spirit Airlines has taken heavy losses on its revenue in 2020. The company is pacing to end the year generating almost $2 billion less than it did in 2019. So far this year, Spirit has taken over $250 million in net losses. This is almost a $600 million difference from the $335 million in net profits the company achieved in 2019.

Spirit Airlines has endured the worst (and most uncertain) part of the pandemic and is now slowly climbing back to profitability. At this time, it is nearly impossible to reliably predict if Spirit Airlines revenue will return to pre-pandemic level any time soon.

However, Spirit Airlines stock should have plenty of room to grow over the next few years if SAVE can just bring its earning per share back up to even half of the $4.90 it reported in 2019. Plus, options traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment, per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 77%, which sits in the 14th percentile of all other annual readings. 

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) remains under pressure today, following yesterday's news that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 states have filed lawsuits against the social media giant, accusing it of anti-competitive practices. These lawsuits could force FB to sell its highly lucrative acquisitions, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meanwhile, the company is pushing back, calling the lawsuits "revisionist history." 

As a result, FB is slipping even lower in electronic trading, off 0.9% at $275.54 at last check, and down more than 1.8% for the week. The 100-day moving average is still holding out as support, however, though the equity closed back below its 10-day moving average, which provided a temporary floor for FB last week. 

The stock still sports a roughly 38% year-over-year lead, and analysts aren't deterred just yet. In fact, 30 of those covering the equity call it a "buy" or better, compared to  just two "hold" ratings. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $319.30 is a 14.9% premium to last night's close. 

Options players are also overwhelmingly bullish. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), FB sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.48, which stands higher than all but 6% of readings from the past year.

After breaking records at the start of the day yesterday, stocks took a breather to ultimately finish the day in the red. Tech giants like Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) struggled, and stimulus talks within the Senate seem less and less likely to reach a conclusion this week. Additionally, investors remain concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 infections across the United States. Cases have increased by 1 million in just the past 4 days to reach a record of 15 million total.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 30,068.81) fell 105.07 points on Wednesday. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,672.82) dropped 29.4 points and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 12,338.95) was down 243.8 points yesterday. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 22.27) added 7.7% during yesterday's trading session.

Today is packed to the brim for investors, with weekly jobless claims on tap. In addition, a federal budget update and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data are slated to be reported. We also have a slew of interesting names reporting earnings today including National Beverage (FIZZ), Costco (COST), Lululemon Athletica (LULU), and Oracle (ORCL).

For your convenience, we have rounded up the companies slated to release earnings today, December 10:

Adobe, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE -- $483.74) operates as a diversified software company worldwide. Adobe will report its fourth-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN -- $47.18) provides network hardware, software, and services that support the transport, switching, aggregation, service delivery, and management of video, data, and voice traffic on communications networks. Ciena will report its fourth-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Broadcom, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO -- $416.22) designs, develops, and supplies a range of semiconductor devices. Broadcom will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST -- $374.29) engages in the operation of membership warehouses. Costco will report its first-quarter earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY -- $25.63) owns and operates entertainment and dinng venues for adults and families. Dave & Buster's will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Lululemon Athletica, Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU -- $363.56) designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel and accessories. Lululemon Athletica will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL -- $59.73) provides products and services that address enterprise information technology environments. Oracle will report its second-quarter earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.

Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX -- $21.98) provides components for the fenestration industry worldwide. Quanex will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN -- $286.25) operates mountain resorts and urban ski areas in the United States. Vail Resorts will report its first-quarter earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.

Here is a quick recap of how Wednesday's earning calls played out:

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB -- $48.26) engages in the manufacture and market food and beverage products. Earnings per share rose 30.77% over the past year to $1.02, which beat the estimate of $0.91. Revenue of $2,340,000,000 higher by 7.19% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $2,320,000,000.

Designer Brands, Inc. (NYSE:DBI -- $8.61) designs, manufactures, and retails footwear and accessories. Earnings per share decreased 138.81% year over year to ($0.26), which beat the estimate of ($0.48). Revenue of $652,870,000 decreased by 30.27% year over year, which beat the estimate of $650,630,000.

The Lovesac Company (NASDAQ:LOVE -- $33.81) designs, manufactures, and sells foam filled furniture, sectional couches, and related accessories. Earnings per share rose 134.78% over the past year to $0.16, which may not compared to the estimate of ($0.88). Revenue of $74,742,000 rose by 43.47% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $66,140,000.

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB -- $13.21) manufactures and sells photomasks. Earnings per share decreased 33.33% year over year to $0.10, which missed the estimate of $0.15. Revenue of $149,286,000 decreased by 4.46% from the same period last year, which missed the estimate of $153,870,000.

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI -- $18.80) distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products. Earnings per share increased 325.00% year over year to $0.51, which missed the estimate of $0.74. Revenue of $6,673,000,000 up by 10.85% year over year, which missed the estimate of $6,810,000,000.

Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA -- $8.40) designs, manufactures, and sells women's handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories, and gifts. Earnings per share were up 50.00% year over year to $0.30, which beat the estimate of $0.24. Revenue of $124,849,000 declined by 2.08% from the same period last year, which missed the estimate of $129,980,000.

Comtech Telecommunications Corporation (NASDAQ:CMTL -- $19.84) designs, develops, produces, and markets products, systems, and services for communications solutions. Earnings per share were down 53.12% year over year to $0.15, which beat the estimate of ($1.78). Revenue of $135,218,000 declined by 20.58% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $124,910,000.

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF -- $50.84) produces and sells industrial packaging products and services worldwide. Earnings per share were down 37.10% year over year to $0.78, which beat the estimate of $0.72. Revenue of $1,161,000,000 declined by 5.76% from the same period last year, which missed the estimate of $1,170,000,000.

Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM -- $61.62) designs, sources, markets, and distributes products of company owned and licensed brands, and private label apparel products. Earnings per share decreased 540.00% over the past year to ($0.44), which beat the estimate of ($1.10). Revenue of $175,135,000 declined by 27.40% year over year, which beat the estimate of $164,420,000.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, earnings reports will be almost non-existent, but investors will have producer price index (PPI) and consumer sentiment data to unpack to close out the trading week. All economic dates listed here are tentative and subject to change.

The shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) are down 0.8%, last seen trading at $374.42, cooling off from their Dec. 1 all-time high of $388.07. And while Costco stock's 10-day moving average has emerged as a layer of resistance over the last five sessions, the equity has brushed off the pandemic and managed a 30.9% rise in 2020. The good news is that a longer-term trendline has solidified itself as support, and if history tells us anything, it could springboard the equity toward another round of fresh record highs.

More specifically, Costco stock is within one standard deviation of its 70-day moving average. According to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Chris Prybal, COST has tested support at this trendline seven other times over the past three years. The stock was higher a month later 71% of the time, and averaged a 6.2% gain for that time period. A move of similar magnitude from COST's current perch would put the equity at a brand new all-time high of $397.63.

In the options pits, the preference for puts is ample. Data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows the stock sports a 50-day put/call volume ratio that ranks higher than 99% of readings in its annual range. This indicates an unusually healthy appetite for long puts over the last 10 weeks. 

Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.07 sits higher than 80% of readings from the past year. This means short-term option traders have rarely been more put-biased. An unwinding of this bearish attention could push the equity even higher.

What's more, options traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment, per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 27%, which sits in the 19th percentile of all other annual readings. However, the equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at a low 13 out of 100. This means the stock has greatly disappointed option traders' volatility expectations during the past year.

The shares of gold mining concern Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) recently experienced a head-and-shoulders (H&S) breakdown on the charts, and a retest of this level looks to be failing. Moreover, the equity has also pivoted below its $50 billion market-cap level, which appears to be acting as overhead resistance now, as does NEM’s 200-day moving average. With this lack of a foundation in place, now looks like an ideal time to buy puts.

Meanwhile, calls have been particularly popular in recent weeks. This is per Newmont stock’s 10- and 50-day call/put volume ratios of 6.90 and 4.36, respectively, at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). The 10-day volume ratio ranks in the 99th percentile, while the 50-day stands in the 94th -- indicating a healthier-than-usual appetite for calls of late. This has resulted in an optimistic stance amongst the brokerage bunch, with 15 out of 20 rating the equity a "buy" or better, versus five "holds."

Elsewhere, shorts are hitting the exits, evident by the fact that short interest has fallen 17.3% in the last two reporting periods. This accounts for less than 1% of the stock's total available float -- a decade low. In fact, the only lower readings were in 1996 & 2001. Our recommended put has a leverage ratio of negative 5.4 and will double on a 16.6% drop in the underlying equity.

Subscribers to Schaeffer's Weekend Trader options recommendation service received this NEM commentary on Sunday night, along with a detailed options trade recommendation -- including complete entry and exit parameters. Learn more about why Weekend Trader is one of our most popular options trading services.