Weird Habits Die Hard

I have this weird habit of Googling companies anytime I see, hear, or think of one. Usually with the sole intent to see if they are public or not. It’s pretty fascinating which companies are public and which are not. For some reason I remembered Abercombie and Finch, a clothing brand somewhat popular when I was in grade school. Pretty horrendous designs but back then I didn’t care and they had some good jeans, socks, etc. Regardless I did my usual, “Hmm now I’m curious” and pulled out my phone. To my surprise there’s a ticker $ANF. Immediately I pulled up the chart…

What the hell I thought to myself.. Then I pulled out the Quartr app on my phone and sure enough, they’ve got earnings coming up..

Feels like a bubble sure, but maybe I can buy a call now and sell the news on earnings day and take a little profit. I immediately got curious about long dated puts, could I time a bad earnings report? The problem I have with that strategy is 1) IV is high so puts are more expensive than usual 2) if I’m right and it’s a bubble then who’s my counterparty when I go to exit the put. Will the market be liquid enough, probably not.. I’ll just stick to calls, I usually do anyways..