Trading Tips Blog

Big bet on massive rally in energy company. While the summer is typically a slow season for stocks, one trader is betting on a big move in shares of Hess (HES). With shares currently around $61, there’s been a surge in trading on the January 2020 $80 calls, indicating a 30 percent upside in shares between now and January. Over 16,000 of those contracts traded on Tuesday, about a 20-fold increase in volume for prior trading. Hess is an explorer and producer of ...
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Director buys over $900,000 in shares. Insiders have been a bit more active in the leisure space lately. Besides some of the insider buys we’ve seen in the casino industry, we’re now seeing insiders buy in the leisure travel space. On Wednesday July 3rd, director Randall Weisenburger bought 20,000 shares of the company he sits on the board of, Carnival Corp (CCL). This is a 20 percent increase in his stake, and he paid about $930,000 to make the deal. Weisinburger’s buy comes ...
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Big bearish bet on tech giant in the next month. Shares of Apple (AAPL) sold off Monday on a major downgrade, citing the company’s “fundamental deterioration.” Naturally, some traders saw that as an opportunity to sell shares—at least in the short-term. That explains the 100-fold increase in volume on the August 2nd $185 puts on the company. With shares of Apple trading just under $200, this is a bet on about a 7.5 percent decline between now and expiration in 25 days. Apple ...
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Big bet on social media company rallying in the next month. Shares of social media companies have underperformed the broad market. Between a slowdown in user growth and privacy concerns, they don’t look like the most attractive investment. Yet shares of these companies are off their recent lows—and at least one trader is betting on a big move higher. Last Friday saw a surge in volume on the July 26th $19 call options on Snapchat (SNAP). With shares trading around $15, that’s a ...
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Major holder adds to stake in blood testing company. Insiders in the health, pharmaceutical, and biotech space continue to buy shares of their beaten-down companies near today’s prices. The latest big buy? At shares of one of the smaller diagnostic plays, OncoCyte Corporation (OCX). Last week, Broadwood Partners LP, which already owns more than 10 percent of shares in the company, added 1 million shares to their stake. At a price of around $2, this represented a $2 million buy. Founded in 2009, OncoCyte ...
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Big bet on gold mining company shares moving higher this year. Shares of mining companies can be pretty volatile. If gold prices stop moving higher, the share price on these companies can drop quickly. Yet at least one trader is betting that mining giant AngloGold Ashanti (AU) will trade at least as high as it’s been if not higher by the end of January 2020. On July 3rd, there was a surge in trading on the January 2020 $18 calls. Shares last traded ...
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Major holder adds to stake in beaten-down biotech company. Insiders in the health, pharmaceutical, and biotech space continue to buy shares of their beaten-down companies near today’s prices. The latest big buy? At shares of one of the smaller biotech plays, Dova Pharmaceuticals (DOVA). On July 3rd, the Perceptive Life Sciences Master Fund, which already owns more than 10 percent of shares and has a seat on the board of directors, added to their stake. The fund bought 20,541 shares, paying just under $300,000 ...
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Big put option bet indicates decline in shares ahead. Shares of General Electric (GE) could be moving down over the summer. That’s based on an unusual bet: a surge in trading on the September $12 put options. Why is this unusual? Because shares are at $10.63, making the trade already in-the-money. There are a few reasons for this kind of trade. First, being in-the-money, the option should move down penny-for-penny with shares. However, if shares remain under $12 come September, the trader will be ...
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