Most of my stocks right now are at level…

Most of my stocks right now are at levels I’ve been buying at, but I’ve  got a couple more names I want to add today, so stay tuned.   We’re about to embark upon earnings season and it’s always a good idea  to review our positions, so let’s run through some of the stocks that  I’m looking for big things from this quarter.  And as I noted last night, earnings will bring catalysts for our stocks and the broader markets.

Anytime you trade earnings, you have to get four things right:

1. The fundamentals — You have to find companies  that are having either better (to buy) or worse (to short) than expected  fundamentals, usually earnings.
2. The whisper metric — Sometimes traders and  investors will start keying on another metric that they think is more  important to the long-term earnings than just the recent report. A few  years ago, Apple’s       /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl        (AAPL 349.18,        -1.78,        -0.51%)       stock would trade up post-earnings if the company reported  strong Mac sales, regardless of whether the earnings themselves came out  better or worse than expected. Regardless, you have to pinpoint  companies that will be better or worse than the rest of the Street is  expecting using good old fundamental research.
3. The earnings season trend — Other times, it  doesn’t matter what the company reports as the broader markets will ramp  or fade any company after the earnings report. I’ve seen blowout  quarters from Apple and Google in year’s past only to lose money the day  and week after the stellar report.
4. The right way to play it — You can buy common  stock in the better-than-expected companies or just short common stock  in the worse-than-expected companies. Alternatively, as I’ve highlighted  in past quarters, you can sometimes find some great option  opportunities that will magnify your gains.