Don’t Overlook “Pick and Shovel” Plays In a Down Market
During a gold rush, most prospectors won’t find much, if any, gold. The real winners are those who supply prospectors with tools that they need, such as picks and shovels. Today, these suppliers don’t even need to provide a physical tool. And they can profit from selling a service with a recurring revenue. That’s where cloud service companies come into play. Spending is slowing, even as it’s grown 19 percent over the past year. Pick and shovel plays in this market are ...
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Insider Trading Report: Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF)
Lourenco Goncalves, President and CEO at Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), recently bought 100,000 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 2 percent, and came to a total cost of $1,496,350. He was joined by an EVP who bought 7,300 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 2 percent, and came to a total price of $108,548. And a director bought 1,500 shares a day later, for $22,703. Insiders have been more active as buyers than sellers over the past year. Overall, insiders own ...
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Unusual Options Activity: PacWest Bancorp (PACW)
Regional bank PacWest Bancorp (PACW) was hit hard in March’s banking crisis. Shares are now down 67 percent over the past year. But one trader sees a long-term rebound ahead. That’s based on the January 2025 $10 calls. With 626 days until expiration, 5,135 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 100, for a 51-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $4.05 to make the bullish bet. Shares recently traded slightly over $10, making ...
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Use a Slowdown to Buy Industry Leaders at a Discount
Analysts spent the first few months of 2023 warning about an earnings recession. And so far, the data suggests that it’s here. Companies are slowing down overall. The good news? Analysts may have been too dour, so many companies have beaten the low expectations going into their earnings report. Nevertheless, the next few months may see the market trade sideways and see a selloff as this latest earnings season starts to slow down. Investors can use such a pullback to buy industry ...
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Insider Trading Report: Enphase Energy (ENPH)
Thurman Rodgers, a director at Enphase Energy (ENPH), recently bought 27,900 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 2 percent, and came to a total cost just over $4.56 million. The buy came right after the director bought 32,900 shares, paying $5.41 million, to increase his holdings by 3 percent. They’re the first insider buys at the company in over two years, as insiders have exclusively been sellers until these buys. Overall, insiders at the solar panel development company own 2.5 ...
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Unusual Options Activity: Uber (UBER)
Ride share company Uber (UBER) is down about 5 percent over the past year. One trader sees a further move higher for shares in the coming months. That’s based on the August $42.50 calls. With 108 days until expiration, 3,540 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 108, for a 32-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $0.28 to make the bullish bet. Shares recently went for about $30, so they’d need to rise ...
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For Companies that Create a Network, Bigger Is Better
Many technologies and economies function best due to a network effect. The larger the number of users in a network, the stronger and more robust it is. It’s less likely to have a single point of failure. For investors, finding companies with a strong network effect can earn great returns. Especially when investors take advantage of a weak market to buy companies with a strong network. One type of network is in shipping and logistics. A small company may only be able ...
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Insider Trading Report: KeyCorp (KEY)
Victor Alexander, Head of Consumer Bank at KeyCorp (KEY), recently bought 8,500 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 7 percent, and came to a total cost just over $100,555. This marks the second insider buy of the year, following the 2,000 share buy from a director back in March. Going further bank, insiders have largely been steady sellers of KeyCorp shares, with a mix of direct sales and stock option exercises. Overall, insiders own 0.3 percent of the regional bank. Shares ...
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