Most of the earnings reports released so far have been positive, but there seems to be little enthusiasm for higher prices as some closely watched stocks have experienced selling on the reports.

Trade selection using volatility as the primary criteria. Different trades for different volatility opportunities.

Although expectations have already been reduced this is week the quarterly earnings reports really get moving as the number of companies scheduled to report greatly increases.

Since we are going to cover a bit more territory than usual in this Digest, we will be omitting some of the option detail we normally include along with the trade suggestions.

Trade selection using volatility as the primary criteria. Different trades for different volatility opportunities.

While last week's minor correction in the S&P 500 Index seemed to relieve some of the apparent overbought pressure that had been building in the VIX futures premium we are not convinced it was enough.

Trade selection using volatility as the primary criteria. Different trades for different volatility opportunities.

We return to update the VIV futures data in the strategy section below followed by an update for our latest hedge suggestion and then three interesting new earnings report ideas along with Friday's number one IV/HV ratio pick.

Trade selection using volatility as the primary criteria. Different trades for different volatility opportunities.

In 2012, The Ides of March will be upon us this Thursday. Will it confirm the expected correction or just be another uneventful trading day with low volume?

Trade selection using volatility as the primary criteria. Different trades for different volatility opportunities.

Even though the equity markets are in low volume uptrends, now may be the time to add a hedge strategy for some downside protection.