Attention, Foolish investors: If you own shares of NetScout Systems (NTCT -0.35%)Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 1.33%), or Mattel (MAT -3.70%), then prepare for a volatile week. That's because your respective companies will be reporting earnings, and they have a lot of investors shorting (betting against) their stock.(MAT -3.70%)

When these two forces combine, volatility is almost always the result. The three stocks I singled out last month for volatility moved an average of 6% following their respective earnings releases. I expect much the same when the three companies mentioned above release their results this week.

In the end, though, there's no way to tell whether these moves will be up or down. So instead of trying to profit from these moves, I encourage current shareholders to prepare for volatility and check out the slideshow below to keep track of what's really worth paying attention to.