Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) operates in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Somehow, someway, the COVID-19 pandemic may actually end up having positive long-term effects for Best Buy stock. Here's why: the work-from-home lifestyle that has emerged in response to the COVID-19 outbreak is here to stay, at least for the near-term. There will be a number of companies who stick with full-time remote employees, and that will evidently increase the average person’s need for electronics. Best Buy stock is up 29% year-to-date, and has tacked on 137% since its two-year low of $148.11 on March 19. With earnings looming, the shares could take aim at their Nov. 5 record high of $124.89. 

Best Buy will be reporting its quarterly earnings at the back-end of the month, currently slated for November 24. For the upcoming earnings report, Best Buy is expected to announce an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.62. Over the past year, Best Buy has beaten expectations on three out of four of its most recent earnings reports. Looking back to the fourth quarter of 2019, Best Buy beat earnings expectations by $0.10, reporting an EPS of $1.13. In the first quarter of 2020, Best Buy more-than-doubled its EPS quarter-over-quarter. The company beat expectations with a margin of $0.15 and reported an EPS of $2.90. Best Buy then reported a drop in EPS in the second quarter of 2020, down to $0.67. This represented a miss of $0.17. Most recently, though, Best Buy beat its quarterly earnings target by a whopping 58%. The company reported an EPS of $1.71, beating the expected EPS of just $1.08.

Best Buy stock has a forward divided of $2.20, with a dividend yield of 1.92%. The last dividend paid on BBY was for $0.55 per share.

For those that want to take advantage of BBY, options might be the route. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 38% stands higher than just 15% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment. 

In addition to being a solid work-from-home stock, Best Buy has maintained excellent revenue numbers as well as consistent profits throughout the pandemic. Although Best Buy's annual revenue growth and net income growth has been slowed in 2020, the company has been able to keep its balance sheet in good standing. This was done while still maintaining a quarterly dividend for investors and raising their starting employee wage to $15 per hour. All aspects of Best Buy, from a fundamentals perspective, point towards a future of substantial growth potential.

L Brands, Inc. (NYSE:LB) is an American fashion retailer that owns the popular Victoria’s Secret brands, as well as Bath & Body Works. Back in February of this year, L Brands announced an agreement to sell the Victoria’s Secret brand to Sycamore Partners, but the deal fell through. L Brands then announced its plans to sell its majority stake in its Victoria’s Secret UK business just this past September. Based on the company's poor revenue and profit numbers in recent years, the possibility of bankruptcy seems very real for L Brands, especially as it continuously looks to offload one of its major brands.

The company is set to report earnings next week after the close on November 18 and that quarterly financial report will likely play a huge role in the future direction of its stock price. L Brands has beat expectations on half of its earnings reports over the past 12 months. In the company's fiscal fourth quarter of 2019, L Brands stock met its earnings per share (EPS) expectation of $0.02. In the fiscal first quarter of 2020 for L Brands, the company beat expectations by $0.02, reporting an EPS of $1.88. In the following quarter of this year, L Brands stock's EPS dropped to -$0.99, missing expectations by $0.27. Most recently, L Brands beat its target by $0.67 for their fiscal third quarter of 2020. The company reported an EPS of $0.25 instead of the expected EPS of -$0.42. As for the upcoming earnings report slated for next week on Wednesday, L Brands is expected to report an EPS of $0.06.

LB stock is currently up 84% year-to-date in 2020 and a massive 327% from its 11-year low of $8.00 on March 17. LB stock is sitting just a chip-shot off its 52-week high from Oct. 17. As for L Brands dividends, the company cut its dividend in the second quarter of this year. L Brands last paid a dividend of $0.30 per share in the first quarter of 2020.

Options traders are loading up on puts. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 2.62 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 98% of readings in its annual range. In other words, this suggest that long puts are being picked up at a relatively faster-than-usual pace. Should this bearish sentiment begin to unwind, it could catapult the equity higher. 

That said, speculating on LB next move with options could be a prudent play. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 89% stands higher than just 20% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment. 

LB had been in a consistent state of decline since peaking in 2015. However, the stock has almost inexplicably turned bullish in 2020, despite its terrible numbers and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016 L Brands' annual revenue growth hit a plateau and that is has yet to be overcome. L Brands went from producing over a $1 billion in net profits in 2016 to posting a nearly $800 million loss over the past 12 months. The company’s net income has slowly dwindled year after year, even turning unprofitable on the year prior to the pandemic. Fundamentally, the red flags are staggering and could give a fundamentals-only investor reasonable pause.

After starting the week strong with positive vaccine new, stocks headed significantly lower on Thursday as the swift uptick in COVID-19 infections has put a damper on investor sentiment The health of the economy appears to be murky heading into the end of 2020. In addition, U.S. Federal Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. economic outlook remains unclear. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 29,080.17) fell 317.5 points yesterday. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,537.01) dropped 35.7 points and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 11,709.59) shed 76.8 points for the day yesterday. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 25.35) rose 1.9 point on Thursday.

Before the opening bell rings today to close out the week, be sure click here to catch up on Schaeffer's market analysis posted on Thursday. Remember, now is a great time to subscribe to 5-Minute Market Rundown, delivered every Saturday morning. It's a great resource if you miss a few days in the market or you just want to begin prepping for the coming week.

As this week comes to an end, today's trading session features the producer price index (PPI) and consumer sentiment data on the stock market stage. DraftKings (DKS) will enter the earnings confessional with a few other companies, too, before the market opens on Friday the 13th.

For your convenience, we have rounded up the companies slated to release earnings today, November 13:

DraftKings, Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG -- $41.25) operates as a digital sports entertainment and gaming company. DraftKings will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB -- $63.52) operates as a branded consumer products company worldwide. Spectrum Brands will report its fourth-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE:VIPS -- $22.15) operates as an online discount retailer for various brands in the People's Republic of China. VIPS stock is up 18.2% year-over-year. Vipshop will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Below is a recap of how yesterday’s earning reports fared against expectations:

Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. (NYSE:BAM -- $37.70) engages in the management of public and private investment products and services. Earnings per share decreased 89.01% over the past year to $0.10, which missed the estimate of $0.47. Revenue of $16,249,000,000 declined by 9.10% year over year, which beat the estimate of $15,840,000,000.

Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC -- $32.38) engages in manufacturing and marketing of personal care products. Earnings per share decreased 31.40% year over year to $0.59, which beat the estimate of $0.56. Revenue of $488,800,000 declined by 7.42% year over year, which beat the estimate of $466,410,000.

Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR -- $47.18) manufacturers and markets batteries and lighting products. Earnings per share decreased 36.56% year over year to $0.59, which missed the estimate of $0.81. Revenue of $763,000,000 higher by 6.12% year over year, which beat the estimate of $747,210,000.

Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX -- $51.10) provides display imaging processing technologies. Earnings per share rose 275.00% year over year to $0.07, which beat the estimate of $0.03. Revenue of $239,934,000 rose by 46.07% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $215,220,000.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE:MTOR -- $27.98) engages in the design, production, and trade of integrated systems, modules, and components to original equipment manufacturers. Earnings per share decreased 81.93% over the past year to $0.15, which beat the estimate of $0.03. Revenue of $758,000,000 decreased by 26.26% year over year, which beat the estimate of $702,100,000.

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI -- $60.91) designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors. Earnings per share increased 42.50% year over year to $0.57, which beat the estimate of $0.47. Revenue of $69,485,000 higher by 32.33% year over year, which beat the estimate of $65,420,000.

Pinduoduo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD -- $111.46) operates an e-commerce platform in the People's Republic of China. Earnings per share were up 125.00% year over year to $0.05, which beat the estimate of ($0.17). Revenue of $2,093,000,000 up by 99.14% year over year, which beat the estimate of $1,860,000,000.

Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH -- $10.82) operates as a specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. Earnings per share increased 8.62% over the past year to $0.63, which beat the estimate of $0.56. Revenue of $957,812,000 decreased by 0.84% from the same period last year, which missed the estimate of $985,850,000.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS -- $14.88) provides 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions for individuals, businesses, and enterprises. Earnings per share fell 141.67% year over year to ($0.05), which beat the estimate of ($0.07). Revenue of $127,892,000 decreased by 18.78% year over year, which beat the estimate of $122,140,000.

Transdigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG -- $560.81) designs, produces, and supplies aircraft components. Earnings per share decreased 48.58% year over year to $2.89, which beat the estimate of $1.98. Revenue of $1,173,000,000 decreased by 23.88% year over year, which beat the estimate of $1,100,000,000.

Tufin Software Technologies Ltd. (NYSE:TUFN -- $7.33) develops, markets, and sells software-based solutions. Earnings per share increased 82.35% year over year to ($0.03), which beat the estimate of ($0.16). Revenue of $25,600,000 unchanged by 0.00% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $23,620,000.

Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX -- $269.78) develops and markets a cloud-based platform that enables anyone to create a website or web application. Earnings per share were down 134.15% over the past year to ($0.14), which beat the estimate of ($0.15). Revenue of $254,180,000 rose by 29.16% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $249,910,000.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT -- $71.16) provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software. Earnings per share increased 56.25% over the past year to $1.25, which beat the estimate of $1.17. Revenue of $4,688,000,000 higher by 24.88% year over year, which beat the estimate of $4,600,000,000.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO -- $39.33) designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry. Earnings per share fell 9.52% over the past year to $0.76, which beat the estimate of $0.70. Revenue of $11,929,000,000 decreased by 9.35% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $11,850,000,000.

Digi International, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGII -- $17.66) provides Internet of Things connectivity products, services, and solutions. Earnings per share were up 77.78% over the past year to $0.32, which beat the estimate of $0.09. Revenue of $73,169,000 higher by 12.64% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $72,040,000.

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB -- $84.03) creates audio and imaging technologies that transform entertainment and communications at the cinema, at home, at work, and on mobile devices. Earnings per share fell 31.82% over the past year to $0.45, which beat the estimate of $0.34. Revenue of $271,191,000 declined by 9.25% year over year, which beat the estimate of $244,440,000.

Farfetch Limited (NYSE:FTCH -- $42.59) engages in the provision of technology platform for the luxury fashion industry. Earnings per share rose 5.56% over the past year to ($0.17), which beat the estimate of ($0.40). Revenue of $437,700,000 rose by 71.32% year over year, which beat the estimate of $367,120,000.

Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB -- $186.73) operates as a technology services company worldwide. Earnings per share decreased 3.23% over the past year to $0.60, which beat the estimate of $0.58. Revenue of $207,223,000 higher by 20.95% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $203,760,000.

Investors have a lot to look forward to next week with plenty economic data that needs unpacking. While Monday will be relatively quiet, Tuesday will feature retail data as well as the import price and home builders indexes. Weekly jobless claims data is due out on Thursday, alongside the Philly Fed index the previous month's leading economic indicators. The week will close out quietly, as no economic data is on tap for the last day of the week. Although the blitz of earnings season is beginning to wind down slowly, there are a number of retail names slated to report next week including blue-chips Home Depot (HD) and Walmart, and other retail giants such as Kohl's (KSS), Macy's (M), and Target (TGT).

All earnings and economic dates listed here are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective website for official reporting dates.

As new traders flood the market, a return to the basics may help novices understand the fundamentals of options trading. To better assist them, we will be running a weekly post about options education. This week, we will be diving into Fibonacci retracements, which are used to identify support and resistance levels, set target prices and place stop-loss orders, among other things.

But first, a little bit of context. Leonardo Fibonacci was a mathematician from the 1170s that discovered a relationship between numbers. Specifically, the Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each successive number is the sum of the two previous ones, as in: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and so on. What is fascinating about this sequence is that any given number is 1.618 times its predecessor, and 0.618 times the following number. Based on that, the key Fibonacci ratios of 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, and 100% were established.

When it comes to the stock market, traders use the above percentage ratios to draw Fibonacci retracements levels, which are useful in defining short- and long-term price trends, because they are based on the belief that stocks and indices tend to retrace their paths after making a large move in either direction. For instance, if a stock rallied from a defined bottom of $25 to a high of $50, a pullback to the $37.50 region may be its next move, retracing 50% (or $12.50) of its gain.

In other words, traders draw horizontal lines based on those key Fibonacci percentages to identify potential areas of support and resistance. Those percentage lines show how much a stock has retraced its prior move, and the direction in which it is likely to keep going. 

There are pros and cons associated with using Fibonacci retracements. While some have confirmed its effectiveness, others believe it to be an unreliable tool, as it is not grounded in logic per se -- rather, it is a numerical pattern. This strategy is also only effective to indicate corrections and reversals, and doesn't provide clear signals as others strategies often do.

Nonetheless, many traders have been successful with the Fibonacci retracement tool. That is why, if anything, it is important to be aware of it when deciding on how to invest in an equity.

The shares of Salesforce.com, Inc (NYSE:CRM) are down 0.2% at $253.60 at last glance, struggling to gain traction following a downgrade from Morgan Stanley to "equal weight" from "overweight." The analyst said the cloud software concern will need to focus on EPS growth if it wants to drive shares materially higher, given the company's current scale and mergers and acquisitions growth strategy. 

However, most analysts following the stock are still quite optimistic. In fact, 23 of the 26 in coverage called CRM a "buy" or better coming into today. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $277.34 is a 9.8% premium to current levels. 

This sunny outlook isn't all that surprising, considering CRM's 55.3% year to date lead, helped along by a late-August bull gap that sent the stock into previously uncharted territory. While the equity is trading slightly lower than its Sept. 2 all-time high of $284.50, the $230 mark has provided a buffer for several of its post-bull gap pullbacks, while familiar support at the 80-day moving average could also help reign in some of the stock's downward trajectory. 

While calls are still outnumbering puts on an overall basis, the equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.77 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits higher than 86% of readings from the past 12 months. This indicates a much healthier-than-usual appetite for long puts of late. 

Investors have plenty to look forward to next week with plenty economic data that needs unpacking. While Monday will be relatively quiet, Tuesday will feature retail data as well as the import price and home builders indexes. Weekly jobless claims data is due out on Thursday, alongside the Philly Fed index the previous month's leading economic indicators. The week will close out quietly, as no economic data is on tap for the last day of the week.

Earnings season is beginning to wind down slowly but surely but there's a number of retail names slated to report, including blue-chips Home Depot (HD) and Walmart, and other retail giants such as Kohl's (KSS), Macy's (M), and Target (TGT).

Below is a brief list of some key market events and a few high-profile earnings releases scheduled for the upcoming week. All earnings and economic dates listed below are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective website for official reporting dates.

Beginning the week, Monday, November 16 comes with the latest Empire State Manufacturing Index data.

Tuesday, November 17 is jam packed with retail, industrial production, capacity utilization, and business inventories data. Additionally, the import price and home builders indexes are on tap.

October's housing and building permits are slated to be reported on Wednesday, November 18, marking another relatively slow day.

Plenty of data is due out on Thursday, November 19, including jobless claims data, the Philly Fed index, and existing home sales. Also set to be reported on is last month's leading economic indicators.

The week ends on a dull note, as Friday, November 20 closes out the week with no noteworthy economic data.