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Traders bet on further weakness following earnings miss. A variety of put options on Twitter (TWTR) saw soaring volume following the company’s massive earnings miss, which sent shares down by twenty percent. Of the numerous contracts with heavy volume, the December 20th $26 put options saw a 40-fold increase, from 101 contracts to over 3,900. The option, with a cost of just $0.23, is a bet that would move in-the-money in the 56 days until expiration if shares fell another 18 percent—a ...
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Bet in surge of call buying. There was a 25-fold surge in volume from 111 contracts to over 2,800 on the November 15th 2019 $16.50 call options on Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), also known as Petrobras. The options, with shares of the Brazilian oil company trading at $15.50, would trade in-the-money with a $1 rally in shares in the next 22 days. At a cost of just $0.19, or $19 per contract, it’s a cheap bet on shares to rally in the next ...
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Director picks up $25,000 in shares. Director Richard Kenny picked up over 1,150 shares of Plumas Bancorp (PLBC) recently, raising his stake by over 20 percent. The buy cost just over $25,000. Insiders at the regional bank have been both buyers and sellers in the past few years, with the last sales coming at prices 13 percent higher than the recent insider buys. Buyers and sellers have just included corporate executives, not major funds or outside capital. All told, insiders own nearly ...
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Bet on shares moving higher after earnings. Over 6,800 contracts traded on the November 8th $29 call options on Kraft Heinz (KHC). Compared to the open interest of 141 contracts, that’s a 48-fold surge in volume. With shares of the company around $28.30, shares need to move just 2.5 percent higher in the coming 16 days before expiration to move in-the-money. For the call buyer, paying $0.90, to profit, shares need to move closer to $30 by then. With the company next ...
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Cluster of insiders pick up shares. A number of insiders at Independence Contract Drilling (ICD) have started buying shares in recent days. The buys include a 6,400 share buy from the CFO, a 20,000 share buy from a director, a 5,000 share buy from the CEO, and a 2,500 buy from the company’s head of HR. These buys follow up on another cluster of insider buys going into the prior week as well, and so far insiders have bought over $50,000 in ...
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Bet on decline in shares over next few months. Over 7,500 contracts traded on the January 2020 $26 put options on Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM). Against the prior open interest of 190, it’s a 40-fold surge in volume. With shares of the stock currently trading around $26.50, the option trades close to in-the-money, and could start moving penny-for-penny with shares should they decline in the coming days. For the trader to make money on the options, which cost around $1.40, shares would ...
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Vice Chairman adds to holdings. Willis Lee, Vice Chairman and COO at Emmaus Life Sciences (EMMA), recently bought 7,890 shares, increasing his total stake by nearly 3 percent to 282,000 shares. The buy cost just under $21,000. This follows up on an 11,000 share buy he made last week, and the company’s Chairman and CEO has been active in the past months as well. Overall, insiders have been only buyers in the past three years, with a recent uptick in buying ...
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The market is undervaluing these companies following their earnings beat. Nearly 25 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 will report earnings this week. But many companies have already reported—and so far, this earnings season has been great. For all the fears of an economic slowdown, for all the fears of a trade war—most companies are just doing what they do best, offering products and services that remain in demand. It’s no surprise that most companies can beat expectations when fear ...
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