Week-Ahead Opportunities

Week of Monday Aug 10 – Friday Aug 14, 2026

Action items this week

EXIT Wed Aug 12 close: sell CSCO ATM call (expiry Fri 8/14 — first after print; tier-2 half size). CSCO reports AMC 8/12 → exit at close of report day. Never hold through the print. Limit at mid. Position was entered Wed Aug 5 close; if not entered, entry window has passed — no fresh entry.
NO ENTRIES No tier-1 or tier-2 entries fall this week. Next tier window: mid-October bank prints (GS/JPM 10/13).

GEX + VIX regime (Friday 8/7 close — delayed CBOE data)

SPY 773.26 · net GEX +3.07bn$/1% (≤5 DTE), +5.66bn$/1% (≤30 DTE) · regime LONG-GAMMA · gamma-flip est ~775 (spot just below flip) · VIX 14.9 (−0.25).

Long-gamma with sub-15 VIX implies dealer-pinned, compressed ranges — banked edge is selling defined-risk premium (61.5% historical win) — but spot sits right at the flip line and Wednesday's CPI is the one release capable of knocking the market into short-gamma, so treat Wednesday morning as the week's main vol window.

Day-by-day: earnings + macro (all times ET)

Day	Macro	Notable earnings
Mon 8/10	10:00 Employment Trends (Jul)	SPG, MNDY, PLUG, RKLB (~228 reports)
Tue 8/11	6:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism · 13:00 Treasury $58B 3-yr note auction	CAVA, HRB, SMCI (SMCI = never-trade list, calendar only)
Wed 8/12	8:30 CPI (Jul) — week's key print · 13:00 Treasury $39B 10-yr note auction · 14:00 Federal budget (Jul)	CSCO AMC (tier-2 exit at close), ENVX, STEM
Thu 8/13	8:30 PPI (Jul) + jobless claims · 13:00 Treasury $22B 30-yr bond auction	AMAT AMC, Coherent
Fri 8/14	8:30 Retail Sales (Jul) · 10:00 UMich Sentiment (prelim) + Business Inventories	Light day (~50 small caps)

No FOMC meeting or minutes this week; no major scheduled Fed speakers surfaced. No 2pm ET Fed releases — CPI 8:30 Wed and PPI 8:30 Thu are the prime SPY scalp vol windows instead; 1pm auction tails (10-yr Wed, 30-yr Thu) are secondary intraday triggers.

Tier-1 / Tier-2 pre-earnings schedule — next 3 weeks (Aug 10–28)

Name	Tier	Report	Entry (close)	Exit (close)	Expiry	Size
CSCO	2 (+1.3%/73% win)	Wed 8/12 AMC	Wed 8/5 — passed	Wed 8/12	Fri 8/14	Half / stock / call spread
No other tier-1/tier-2 name reports within 3 weeks. NVDA reports 8/26 — never-trade list for this structure, excluded. Next tier events: GS + JPM 10/13 BMO, BAC 10/14 BMO, NFLX 10/20 AMC, AXP ~10/23 (est), GOOGL/META/MSFT 10/28 AMC, AAPL/AMZN 10/29 AMC. MS/QCOM dates unconfirmed (data source down — web fallback), both expected Oct/Nov.

Vol-setup read

Positioning enters the week long-gamma and VIX-suppressed, so expect pinned, mean-reverting SPY tape Monday–Tuesday and favor selling defined-risk premium over chasing direction. Wednesday 8:30 CPI is the singular catalyst: an upside inflation surprise from a spot-at-the-flip starting point is the one clean path to a short-gamma flip and 1.6x ranges — keep scalp powder dry for Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Absent a CPI shock, the week likely stays a premium-seller's regime with the CSCO exit Wednesday as the only mechanical action.