Trading Tips Blog

2023 has been a strong year for stocks so far. Even if the market flattens out from here, it will still be a much better year than 2022. Those looking to buy today won’t get the extreme lows from last October or December for most stocks. Rather than pile into stocks that have done well, investors may do better by focusing on income stocks rather than growth stocks for the time being. Fortunately, many companies have continued to grow their dividends. One ...
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Scott Gottlieb, a director at Pfizer (PFE), recently bought 2,000 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 50 percent, and came to a total cost of $77,005. This marks the first insider buy at the company over the past two years. Company executives have largely been sellers of shares, particularly at the executive vice president level. Some of those sales came from exercising stock options, although more than half did not. Overall, company executives own 0.01 percent of shares. The drugmaker was ...
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Digital payment platform PayPal (PYPL) is down about 12 percent over the past year, although shares have been trending higher in the past few months. One trader sees that trend continuing in the coming weeks. That’s based on the June 23 $75 calls. With 42 days until expiration, 4,065 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 116, for a 35-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $0.36 to make the bullish bet. Shares Read More About This

While the overall market has its ups and downs, individual stocks can have more extreme moves. When a company has an extreme rally higher, its shares may be more susceptible to a pullback. The reverse is true when a company has been falling relative to peers. This concept is known as reversion to the mean. And it’s a sign that investors might be able to find buying opportunities in beaten-down stocks. Or traders can find overpriced stocks to target for a ...
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Kristin Coleman, General Council at Albemarle Corp (ALB), recently added 1,373 shares. The buy is a new stake for the executive, and came to a total cost of $249,886. She was joined by the company CEO, who bought 5,470 shares, increasing his stake by 12 percent, and paying just under $994,000 for the position. These two buys represent the first insider buys since February 2022. Otherwise, company insiders have been sellers of shares. Overall, insiders at the lithium company own about ...
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Artificial intelligence software company C3.ai (AI) has had a strong year, with shares up nearly 29 percent as interest in the space has exploded higher. One trader sees shares moving lower in the weeks ahead as that interest potentially wanes. That’s based on the June $25 puts. With 36 days until expiration, 13,509 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 342, for a 40-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $6.31. Shares recently traded ...
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Years of ultra-low interest rates made it easy for companies to issue debt at a low cost. As a bonus, companies could even deduct their interest payments for tax purposes. Today, with interest rates rising, it makes less sense for companies to take on debt. They would need a project with a high prospective return to justify the costs. So companies paying down debt rather than looking to add more or refinance at today’s relatively high rates may offer solid returns. One ...
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Thomson Leighton, CEO at Akami Technologies (AKAM), recently bought 642 shares. The buy increased his stake by less than 1 percent, and came to a total cost of $50,061. The buy follows up on a 934 share buy made a few days before, at a cost of $75,122. And the CEO made 8 separate buys in April, most in the $50,000 range, with two buys in the $75,000 range. Overall, insiders own 1.8 percent of shares. The cloud services software company is ...
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