Oil, dollar to determine earnings winners, losers

A CSX employee walks on a locomotive while on a siding at Worthville, Ky., Oct. 11, 2013.
Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The plunge in oil prices and surge in the dollar are the lead factors in determining for traders and investors which stocks to buy or short this week as companies report their fourth-quarter earnings.

It will be much tougher to effectively trade winners and losers this earnings season as those two factors leave just about no sector untouched, and in many cases, outweigh any individual metrics a company will announce.

Health care is a favorite sector among analysts and investors heading into earnings.

And it's possible some energy stocks could trade higher post earnings as expectations are too low.