Which tickers to avoid before earnings and why?

In today's From Theory to Practice, Dr. Jim's directional earnings trades in Apple and Amazon faced significant losses. While his Apple butterfly marked at 13 cents and vertical spread at $3.75, Amazon positions saw deeper trouble. Dr. Jim maintained vertical spreads in both, citing 49 days remaining as potential recovery time. GDX was closed for a small loss, as the YouTube audience repeatedly noted success with fading Dr. Jim's directional biases - a strategy that has been anecdotally shown to allow traders to retire 6-12 months early, on average.