Trading Tips Blog

Shares of railroad Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) are down about 20 percent over the past year. One trader sees a rebound, although it may take two years to play out. That’s based on the January 2025 $220 calls. With 696 days until expiration, 4,100 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 192, for a 21-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $22.80 to make the bullish bet. Shares recently traded for just over ...
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Stocks and sectors tend to ebb and flow. The unusual economy of the past few years has caused some sectors to get overly bullish, and now with the market pullback over the past year, overly pessimistic. That’s creating some reasonable values for long-term investors, particularly those who are patient waiting for growth trends to play out. That’s especially true with many tech stocks, which got hit hard in last year’s market selloff. In the tech space, chip manufacturers have a bright few  ...
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Ruth Porat, a director at Blackstone (BX), recently bought 336 shares. The buy increased her stake by 1 percent, and came to a total cost just over $32,300. The director was also the most recent buyer of shares with a 20,000 share buy in December, shelling out just over $1.67 million. One company director exercised options since, and one company insider sold some shares earlier this month, but generally insiders haven’t been too active at the company. Overall, company insiders own ...
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Shares of biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences (GILD) have rallied about 37 percent in the past year. One trader sees a pullback for shares in the weeks ahead. That’s based on the March $86.50 puts. With 25 days until expiration, 6,508 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 236, for a 27-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid about $5.00 to make the bearish bet. Shares recently traded close to $83.50, making the options ...
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Investors have plenty of trends that they can follow to profits. One of the easiest – or at least biggest source—of profits to follow is the massive amount of government spending. That’s led to some people investing in highly regulated utilities, or even in aerospace and defense contractors for steady profits. However, times are changing. And the battlefields of the 21st century may not even have a physical location. There’s a tech-themed way to invest in this growing area of government ...
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Alberto Paracchini, a director at Kemper Corp (KMPR), recently bought 500 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 88 percent, and came to a total cost just under $32,000. This marks the first insider buy since last August, when two directors picked up 5,000 shares and 3,000 shares respectively. Otherwise, there have been some modest sales by other company directors. The last executive insider activity occurred in late 2021. Overall, insiders own about 4.6 percent of the property and casualty insurance ...
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Shares of oil and gas company Devon Energy (DVN) got knocked down nearly 11 percent following their latest earnings report earlier this week. One trader sees shares bouncing higher in the coming weeks. That’s based on the March $55 calls. With 28 days until expiration, 6,162 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 120, for a 51-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $3.60 to make the bullish bet. Share recently traded for about ...
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Travel still remains below its pandemic levels, however, that could change this year. Companies in the travel and tourism space report robust demand, even with other parts of the economy showing a decline. One area with reasonable upside here is in hotel-related companies. That’s because booking trends have proven strong, even going into the new year and past the holiday season. Among the hotel stocks, Marriott (MAR) looks well-positioned here. The hotel chain just beat on earnings, and the stock is ...
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