Trading Tips Blog

After being frozen for nearly two years, the real estate market is starting to show signs of life. Listings are on the rise, indicating that homeowners may be ready to sell. While mortgage rates are still near multi-year highs, the Federal Reserve is now starting to lower interest rates. Rates will start trending lower in time, and now may be the time for investors to bet on a real estate rebound. That means that more home transactions are on the horizon, which ...
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Kristin Van Dask, CFO at Prospect Capital (PSEC), recently bought 15,200 shares. The buy increased her stake by 17%, and came to a total cost of $65,208. This is the first insider buy since September, when the company’s CEO, COO, and a director bought over 1 million shares in total across a series of transactions. Insiders have been gradual buyers of shares over the past two years, and there have been no insider sales over the same period. Overall, Prospect insiders ...
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Athletic apparel manufacturer Nike (NKE) is down 30% over the past year. One trader sees the stock trending lower over the weeks ahead. That’s based on the December 27 $65 puts. With 37 days until expiration, 4,333 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 128, for a 34-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $0.53 to make the bearish bet. Nike shares recently traded for just under $75, so shares would need to decline ...
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Most industries tend to start with a large number of companies competing for market share. Over time, companies that can carve out a successful niche can grow their market share. Eventually, only a few players will remain. When a sector settles down to a few oligopoly players, profits tend to be steady. And investors in those companies tend to fare well over time. It doesn’t matter if it’s in software, credit cards, or consumer brands. One sector with an oligopoly is the ...
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David Risher, CEO of Lyft (LYFT), recently bought 13,790 shares. The buy increased his stake by less than 1%, and came to a total cost of $250,272. This is Risher’s second buy of the year, following a 51,815 share pickup in August for just over $501,000. Otherwise, company insiders, including both directors and executives, have been slight sellers of shares over the past two years. Those sales are largely direct sales, rather than the exercise of stock options. Overall, Lyft insiders ...
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Semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed (WOLF) is down over 80% in the past year, amid restructuring and job cuts. One trader sees further downside in the weeks ahead. That’s based on the December 20 $5 puts. With 31 days until expiration, 9,200 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 221, for a 42-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $0.28 to make the bearish bet. Wolfspeed recently traded for about $6.80, meaning shares would need to ...
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One metric that investors often overlook is a profit margin. For a company in the manufacturing business, a single-dollar invested may only earn a total profit of a dime after all the costs involved. For a software company, a dollar invested may yield fifty cents. Over time, it’s clear that the higher-margin business ends up with more capital to expand, pay a dividend, buy back shares, or otherwise reward investors. Any of those activities tend to translate to a higher share ...
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Alfred Zollar, a director at International Business Machines (IBM), recently bought 936 shares. The buy is an initial stake for the director, and came to a total cost of $197,139. Zollar is the only insider at the company to buy shares over the past two years. This year, there have been two insider sales, both from company Senior Vice Presidents. Going further back, the company CFO sold about 30% of his holdings for over $5.1 million in early 2023. Overall, IBM ...
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