The shares of CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) are up 0.3% at $59.75, after the pharmaceutical company announced it would hire 15,000 new employees in preparation for a surge in COVID-19 and flu cases during the fall and winter seasons. Over 10,000 of those hired will be full-time and part-time licensed pharmacy technicians who will help dispense medication and administer coronavirus tests. 

Today's announcement has CVS making another run at its 50-day moving average, which has served as a ceiling on the charts since late-August, when the equity went into selloff mode. While the $56 mark saved CVS from collapsing back into its mid-March trough, the stock is still off roughly 19% for the year. 

The majority of analysts covering the security are in favor of the equity. Twelve of those in coverage call it a "buy" or better, compared to four calling it a "hold" or worse. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $78.76 is a 31.5% premium to current levels. 

Short sellers, however, have been coming around to the security. Short interest rose 5.5% in the last reporting period. Despite this uptick, the 19.92 million shares sold short make up just 1.5% of the security's available float, or nearly three days at its average pace of trading. 

Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) is an American social media company, well-known for its Snapchat platform. The company is slated to report earnings on October 20 after hours. This financial report will serve as a pivotal opportunity for SNAP stock to keep pushing for new highs. SNAP stock only recently surpassed its IPO price of $24, and has yet to beat its all-time high stock price of $29.44, set the day after SNAP stock's initial public offering. SNAP stock has recently seen a positive surge, despite hitting a 52-week low of $7.89 earlier in year. SNAP stock is up nearly 40% year-to-date and has more than tripled in value since its lows in March. As we await earnings, a closer look into the company’s fundamentals will allow investor’s to properly evaluate the stock along with the quarterly report.

Snap has a market cap of $40.89 billion and a book value of $1.50 per share. Its price-to-book (P/B) ratio stands at 18.63. A stock's P/B ratio of the market value of a company's shares over its book value of equity. The company has a forward price-earnings ratio of 322.58 and no trailing price-earnings ratio.

Snap has beat expectations in two of its last four quarterly earnings reports. In the most recently reported quarter, the company met expectations with loss of -$0.09. For the fourth quarter of 2019, Snap reported a positive EPS of $0.03, beating expectations by $0.02. In the upcoming SNAP stock quarterly earnings report --set for after-the-close on Tuesday, Oct. 20 -- Snap is expected to report an EPS of -$0.05 and resume its upward trajectory from the fourth quarter of 2019. The company has a trailing 12-month EPS of -$0.78.

Snap has grown its revenue by nearly $400 million on an annual basis since 2016. In 2019, Snap grew its revenue by more than $500 million. Snap has continuously reduced its net losses since 2017.  Snap currently has $2.83 billion in cash and $1.94 billion in total debt. The company’s balance sheet holds $4.70 billion in total assets and $2.51 billion in total liabilities. Snap's total equity currently stands at $2.20 billion.

In short, SNAP has room for exponential growth. The company is working to compete with Facebook (FB) after refusing offers for its acquisition back in 2014. Although this may look like an impossible challenge, Snap has pulled through despite Zuckerberg’s attempts to overthrow Snapchat with Instagram Stories. Snapchat continues to thrive amongst young people. Snapchat reportedly reaches 90% of people 13-24 years old in the U.S., and 80% in the UK, France, Canada, and Australia.

The company seeks to continue growing its 238 million users and increase its profits by expanding its app into new territories. The company has already taken steps in this direction with its various community features, maps, games, and original content. Further, SNAP stock seems to be in a good position from a fundamental point of view. The company has nearly $1 billion more in cash than they do in debt, and the company’s revenue grows significantly year after year. Snap was pushing towards profitability prior to the pandemic. Although the company was set back from losses in ad revenue like most social media giants, the company seems to be on the right track to resuming its upward trajectory. If all goes as expected (or better) in Snap's upcoming earnings announcement, SNAP should reflect more optimism and push to new highs.

“… as potential election volatility continues to be a popular media theme, perhaps scaring many out of equities, there has been an interesting development is the Cboe Volatility Index’s (VIX—25.00) second consecutive close below its 252-day moving average on Friday. This occurred after it traded above this important moving average for all but one day since August 31st. The VIX also closed below its 30-day moving average, which I have been following closely…The bullish VIX signal was concurrent with the S&P 500 Index’s (SPX—3,477.13) close back above 3,400 and its February high, the Russell 2000 Index (RUT—1,637.55) close above 1,600 -- which acted as resistance in August and September…a contrarian play to the media’s higher election volatility theme would be to position for lower volatility and higher stock prices in the days before and after the election. If the VIX moves back above its 30-day and 252-day moving averages, all bets are off. ”

            - Monday Morning Outlook, October 12, 2020

Last week was a test for those playing pre-election and post-election rallies in equities, and betting on a concurrent decline in volatility. That is based on the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX -- 27.41) signal that I referred to in last Monday’s commentary.   

On Friday, the VIX closed north of its short-term 30-day moving average, and its longer-term 252-day, or one-year moving average. Both moving averages have provided guidance in forecasting volatility in recent months. But crosses above and below have been less meaningful this month. Monitor the VIX closely, as consecutive closes above these moving averages should put you on alert that higher volatility is ahead, contrary to my thinking from last week. A VIX close above the trendline connecting lower highs since mid-September could be used as a tool to confirm that higher volatility is imminent.  

In the meantime, the S&P 500 Index (SPX -- 3,483.81) was pushed back below the round 3,500 century mark, after closing above this level a few days prior. This mark is just shy of the 3,553 level that corresponds to a round 10-percent year-to-date gain for the index. Moreover, the Russell 2000 Index (RUT -- 1,633.81) closing high last week was at 1,649, just 19 points shy of its 2019 close at 1,668. This happened after the Invesco QQQ Trust Series (QQQ -- 288.51), which is heavily tech oriented, closed just south of the round $300 level last week.   

It appears the recovery in the stock market and the coincident VIX close at its Thursday low was hinting at a headline Friday morning that Pfizer (PFE) may file for emergency use of its developmental COVID-19 vaccine by the end of November. This suggests once again that prospects for a vaccine or remedy for the virus is more important to investors than immediate stimulus or the election. But that does not mean all future headlines with respect to a vaccine or remedy will be good, and that in turn would be the risk to investors.

On the sentiment front, there are a couple of discussion points worth noting, both of which are risks to the bulls. 

First, if you are wondering who is driving the market higher in recent weeks, it appears to be active investment managers. The table below displays the next exposure of these market participants, per the weekly National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM) survey. Last Wednesday, the reading came in at 102.9 (a reading of 100.0 means fully invested and 200.0 is leveraged long). The last time this group was fully invested was mid-August, prior to the September pullback. If the SPX experiences a decisive close back below the February high of 3,386, it is likely that this group is reducing exposure ahead of the election. In August, this group was fully invested for three weeks before reducing exposure.

Plus, despite the media attention on the potential for election-related volatility, the chart below caught my attention. During the past 20 trading days, option buyers on VIX futures options have purchased more puts than calls. In other words, the bet is that volatility will head lower. This is extremely unusual because typically more calls are purchased than puts.

I am not entirely sure what to make of this. On one hand, extremes in VIX futures options call-buying have been "smart money." When this has occurred in the past, higher volatility followed, usually in the context of Large Speculators (dumb money) on VIX futures options being positioned for lower volatility. 

So, if the historically massive put-buying relative to call-buying on VIX futures options is viewed as "smart money," the indication at present would be that lower volatility is ahead. But I would rather see this activity occur in the context of dumb-money large speculators on VIX futures being positioned for higher volatility, which is not the case. With active investment managers now fully invested like they were in August, and net shorts on VIX futures now exceeding 100,000 contracts, the lower volatility bet might be getting too crowded. 

The idea is to have a short leash with respect to the lower volatility, higher equities trade. While this trade got off to a good start last Monday, it is not yet broken. But then again, it is not looking as promising either.   

 

Todd Salamone is Schaeffer's Senior V.P. of Research

Continue reading:

• The Week Ahead: Housing Data, Dow Earnings on Deck
• Indicator of the Week: Analyzing the Coppock Curve Indicator

For the week last week, all three benchmarks posted modest gains, with the Dow and S&P 500 locking in three straight, and the Nasdaq posting its fourth-straight weekly gain.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 28,606.31) rose 112.1 points, or 0.4% on Friday. For the week, the Dow rose 0.06%. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,483.81) closed up 0.5 point, or 0.01% for the day on Friday, and up 0.2% for the week. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 11,671.56) lost 42.3 points, or 0.4% for the day on Friday, but tacked on an 0.8% gain for the week last week. Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 27.41) gained 0.4 point, or 1.6% on Friday, and 9.6% from last week's trading sessions.

Welcome back, traders! We hope you enjoyed your weekend and you're ready to roll. ICYMI on Friday... we dropped some major actionable trade ideas and stock insights:

• Options bulls charged toward this red-hot software stock on Friday
• Pet supply e-tailer stock surged on the heels of a bullish note
• 11 announcements about cannabis stocks that you can't afford to miss
• Bernie Schaeffer took the temperature of the sports betting landscape
• This blue-chip drugmaker moved higher on COVID-19 vaccine announcement
• This stock completely brushed off bullish coverage on Friday
• A deep-dive into the company that's taken the lead in the freelance sector

OK, now it's time to dive straight into today's agenda. We will be kicking this week off with the NAHB home builders' index and the Federal Budget for September today, along with another beyond-packed earnings schedule to keep an eye on.

For your convenience, we have rounded up the companies slated to release their earnings today, October 19:

• Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL -- $12.25) provides a range of services and products to oil and natural gas companies worldwide. HAL is currently down 46.4% year-over-year.
  • Halliburton will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell today.
    
• HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI -- $36.03) sells office furniture and hearth products.
  • HNI will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell today.
    
• Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII -- $288.22) designs, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets.
  • Lennox will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell today.
    
• Old National Bancorp (NASDAQ:ONB -- $13.76) provides various financial services to individual and commercial customers in the United States.
  • Old National Bancorp will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell today.
    
• Koniklijke Philips N.V.  (NYSE:PHG -- $48.81) operates as a health technology company worldwide. PHG is up slightly in 2020, clocking in up 6.3% year-to-date.
  • Philips will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell today.
    
• Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC -- $17.17) provides financial products and services to individuals and businesses.
  • Simmons will report its latest quarterly earnings before the bell today.
    
• BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE:BXS -- $21.96) provides commercial banking and financial services to individuals and small-to-medium size businesses.
  • BancorpSouth will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS -- $115.69) provides software, hardware, services, and reusable integrated circuit (IC) design blocks worldwide.
  • Cadence will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK -- $83.26) designs, manufactures, and sells packaging products and equipment for consumer goods and industrial products.
  • Crown will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS -- $83.26) is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust.
  • Equity Lifestyle Properties will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB -- $7.50) provides a range of financial services primarily to consumers, corporations, governments, and small- to medium-sized businesses.
  • F.N.B Corp. will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL -- $35.53) develops, manufactures, and markets structural materials for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial markets.
  • Hexcel will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM -- $125.93) operates as an integrated solutions and services company worldwide. After reporting positive second-quarter earnings, no fewer than 5 analysts hiked their price targets for IBM stock, boosting the stock right away. We reported on IBM's potential for an ugly October after reviewing the worst stocks to own on the S&P 500 over the past 10 years... and IBM neared the top of the list. 
  • IBM will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ:LOGI -- $79.83) designs, manufactures, and markets products that helps people connect to digital and cloud experiences.
  • Logitech will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.
    
• PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG -- $137.16) manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials worldwide.
  • PPG will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today. 
• Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD -- $33.39) operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States.
  • Steel Dynamics will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    
• Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION -- $31.14) provides various banking and related services.
  • Zions Bancorp will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes today.
    

We have also rounded up how the earnings confessional played out for all those quarterly reports released on Friday, October 16:

• Ally Financial, Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) provides various digital financial products and services in the United States and Canada. Last quarter, we reported that Ally cancel CardWorks acquisition and drove shares up nearly 15%. Ally reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.
  • Earnings per share increased 23.76% year-over-year to $1.25, which beat estimates of $0.68. Reported revenue of $1.68 billion is up by 4.93% from the same period last year, which beat estimates of $1.55 billion.

• Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) manufactures and markets flow measurement, control, and communication solutions. Badger Meter reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.
  • Earnings per share rose 15.91% over the past year to $0.51, which beat the estimate of $0.38. Reported revenue of $113.59 million is up by 4.55% year-over-year, and beat the street estimate of $100.45 million.

• The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) provides a range of financial products and services in the United States and internationally. BNY Mellon reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.

• CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) provides banking and related services to commercial and individual customers. CIT Group reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.

• Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) provides retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. Citizens Financial reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.
  • Earnings per share decreased 30.61% year-over-year to $0.68, which did not measure up to estimates of $0.74. Revenue of $1.79 billion rose by 9.34% year-over-year and beat estimates of $1.73 billion.

• J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) provides surface transportation and delivery services. JBHT stock shares soared to record highs after the company's last earnings beat. J.B. Hunt reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.
  • Earnings per share were reported down 15.71% over the past year to $1.18, which missed the estimate of $1.27. Reported revenue of $2.47 billion is up by 4.61% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $2.c36 billion.

• Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) provides domestic and international rail transportation services in North America. Kansas City Southern reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.

• Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) supplies technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry worldwide. Schlumberger reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Friday.

• State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. State Street reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell Friday.
  • Earnings per share fell 3.97% year-over-year to $1.45, which beat the estimate of $1.41. Revenue of $2.78 billion declined 4.10% year-over-year, but beat the estimate of $2.77 billion.

• V.F. Corp (NYSE:VFC) engages in the design, production, procurement, marketing, and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear, and related products. VFC stock was upgraded earlier last quarter after reporting a growing demand as well as growth in web traffic. V.F. Corp reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings of 2021 before the bell on Friday.
  • Earnings per share decreased 46.83% year-over-year to $0.67, which beat the estimate of $0.49. Revenue of $2.61 billion decreased 23.14% as compared to the same period last year, but beat estimates of $2.5 billion.

And that's it for today, folks. Investors will be looking at September's housing starts and building permits tomorrow PLUS another boatload of earnings will drop. Companies entering the earnings confessional tomorrow include Lockheed Martin (LMT), Netflix (NFLX), Procter & Gamble (PG), Snap (SNAP), and Texas Instruments (TXN). Remember, 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.

Welcome back to our weekly series, Schaeffer's Cannabis Stock News Update, where we recap what happened in the world of marijuana stocks this week and we will look ahead at the pot stocks to watch in the upcoming week.

Investor interest in the cannabis industry continues to grow and the leading players continue to break through legal barrier after legal barrier. Right now, nine states and D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana and 29 states have legalized medicinal marijuana. Normally, when we talk "cannabis stocks," we are talking about companies that sell both recreational and medicinal cannabis. More and more companies, though, are starting to see the opportunity presenting in this quickly growing industry and we are continuing to see more marijuana initial public offerings (IPOs) on the calendar.

Here's a quick roundup of the cannabis sector news this week (October 12 through October 16):

Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CRON) announced on Wednesday that the company would be launching Happy Dance™, a new clean-ingredient and high-quality CBD skincare brand. This brand is co-founded with actress and New York Times' (NYT) best-selling author, Kristen Bell.

FSD Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:HUGE) announced on Monday that the company will be dedicating resources toward development of a legacy anti-inflammatory drug as a potential coronavirus therapy.

Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN), one of the largest global sellers of premium cannabis accessories and specialty vaporization products, announced on Monday that the company will be distributing Marley Natural™ accessories worldwide. The exclusive deal brings this iconic brand to specialty locations specifically in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe.

Intec Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:NTEC), a biopharmaceutical company that works on creating a variety of therapeutics, announced on Sunday that the company entered into a new research collaboration with MSD, the trade name of Merck & Co., Inc. Details of the agreement are still being kept confidential.

Pyxus International, Inc. (NYSE:PYX), a global value-added agricultural company, announced on Tuesday that the company appointed Robert George, Carl Hausmann, Cynthia Moehring and Richard Topping to its Board of Directors, effective Monday, October 12.

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE:XXII), a leading plant-based life science company driven by next-generation biotechnology, announced on Wednesday that the company was granted a new U.S. patent related to their process for reducing nicotine levels in tobacco plants. The new technology provides 22nd Century with a rapid pathway to introduce very low nicotine traits into virtually any variety of tobacco.

Aphria Inc. (NASDAQ: APHA), a leading global cannabis company inspiring and empowering the worldwide community to live their very best life, announced its quarterly financial results yesterday for the company's fiscal first quarter ended August 31. Aphria reported record-breaking gross revenue for adult-use cannabis of $69.6 million in their first fiscal quarter, an increase of 23% over the prior quarter, and marked the sixth consecutive quarter of growth for the company. Net cannabis revenue of $62.5 million in the first quarter was also reported, representing an increase of 103% from this quarter last year.

Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), the Canadian cannabis producer, announced on Tuesday that the company sold its stake in Australian medical marijuana company, Cann Group, worth $28 million. The Canadian producer claims, though, that it still sees promise in the Australian market.

Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC), the largest cannabis company in the world by market capitalization, announced on Tuesday that the company entered into a new distribution partnership with two major alcohol distributors: Reyes Beer Division and Manhattan Beer. This initiative will further their progress in producing cannabis-infused beverages.

cbdMD, Inc. (NYSE:YCBD), one of the most recognizable cannabidiol (CBD) brands, announced on Wednesday the company's preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter of their fiscal year, focusing on the quarter ending on September 30. Net sales revenue for their fiscal year is expected to range between $41.7-$41.8 million as compared to the $23.7 million reported last year. Net sales revenue from the company's fourth quarter is expected to range between $11.5-$11.7 million compared to $9.54 million reported in Q4 of last year.

Although there is an extensive (and that's an understatement) roster of companies reporting quarterly earnings next week, there are currently no notable earnings announcements expected in the cannabis sector at this time. However, all earnings dates listed here are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective website for official reporting dates.

The pandemic accomplished the unthinkable and derailed what many had taken for granted; constant live sports. However, sports betting companies such as Penn National Gaming (PENN) and DraftKings (DKNG) have turned in outstanding year-to-date gains of 157% and 377%, respectively. To many there's no better time than now to look into these type of stocks, with sports gambling possibly on the verge of a paradigm shift. But to others, there are very real roadblocks and perhaps the notion that the fad has come and gone already. Articulating the landscape of sports betting and its major players can help an investor better prepare for life after the pandemic, whenever that occurs.

As alluded to above, there is a camp that believes if you didn't jump in on a sports gambling stock like DKNG in the summer -- when fall sports were in limbo -- then the train has left the station. Sports are mostly back now, and all of that optimism is baked in. But plenty of the sports betting market remains untapped simply because its incomplete. Users are only permitted to bet on sports through the apps in one of the 18 states plus Washington, D.C., that have set up fully operational legal sports betting. A CivicScience survey by way of Axios Markets showed a large number of people in those states are still unaware of the apps.

Those same naysayers will also cry that greater exposure hinges on legislation, which in of itself is a daunting hurdle. Per a Deutsche Bank report: "There has been little to no incremental legislation that advanced the iCasino or sports betting agendas in the U.S.," and even less to back expectations for a doubling of the total addressable market (TAM) for sports." However, that same Axios article also showed that four states have passed legalization bills already this year, while nine more have legislation pending.

If – and that's a big "if" considering the gridlock of American politics these days – you believe that in 18 months, the majority of states will have legalized sports gambling, then now is the time to strike on the likes of PENN and DKNG while their technical setups and overhead remain enticing. Don't be scared off by their astronomical year-to-date gains; there is evidence that suggests a second leg higher could be imminent for both securities. Per the chart below, you can see DKNG's torrid year-to-date rally was halted at 500%, with the pullback cushioned by the prior 400% peak. PENN, on the other hand, saw its rally halted at 200% with pullbacks contained at 150%. Back during the COVID-19 crush of March, DKNG's year-to-date breakeven level stepped up as support. PENN wasn't as lucky, and was instead obliterated by the shutdowns given the hits it took from its brick-and-mortar casinos and racetracks. But despite losing 82% of its value, PENN's handsome rebound must be commended, and for contextual purposes, it’s worth noting that at $11 billion, the equity's market cap is almost half that of DKNG's $21 billion.

The similarities don't end on the charts. Options traders, as they tend to do, have gotten out in front of the two 2020 darlings. Thanks to data courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, DKNG popped up on a list of 20 stocks that have attracted the highest options volume over the last 10 trading days. In those two weeks, 692,393 calls have changed hands, compared to 331,208 puts. Not to be outdone, PENN showed up on a similar list of S&P Midcap 400 stocks, with 220,264 calls and 129,394 puts traded in the last 10 days. Plus, premium can be had from both DKNG and PENN at an affordable price. Their Schaeffer's Volatility Indexes (SVI) of 86% and 77%, respectively, both sit lower than the bottom 20th percentile of readings from the past year.

If your crystal ball sees sports gambling legalization as the future, choosing between the two comes down to DKNG’s and PENN’s business fundamentals. If you're sold on casinos and racing facilities returning to glory in 2021 while also intrigued by Penn's 36% stake in Barstool Sports, then PENN has some staying power. But if you see DraftKing's app and increasing partnerships with professional sports teams as only the beginning, take a number and get in line. One thing’s for certain; given the volatile nature of the industry as outlined above, options contracts that decrease your initial cash outlay may be the prudent move until the future of sports betting becomes more crystallized.

Subscribers to Bernie Schaeffer's Chart of the Week received this commentary on Sunday, October 4.