(Reader note: Options Action will have live coverage of how to trade Alphabet and Microsoft heading into their earnings after the bell with Options Action contributors Mike Khouw and Brent Kochuba, so check back later today at 2:30 p.m. ET)The market's mini rally faces a key test after the bell when tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft report. The technical set-up and options expectations could not be more different. Microsoft is less than one percent below its closing record reached earlier this month, while Alphabet is flirting with technical bear-market territory, off 20% from its closing high in May. Market-makers are pricing a 5.8% move for Alphabet stock after its report, compared to under a 5% swing for Microsoft, Cboe LiveVol data show.For Microsoft, it's a smaller implied move than its 2-year average swing of 6%. For Alphabet, which has averaged a 2.7% reaction over that time period, it's more than double – which arguably makes sense considering the shares dropped 7% after last quarter's report and rallied 10% the report prior.The ratio of puts to calls on both stocks has been gradually building up on the put side as the Nasdaq 100 Index pulled back, but the metric's baselin...







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