Trading Tips Blog

Many sectors condense over time into just a few players. An oligopoly can be great for investors, as companies tend to look for ways to improve their profitability, rather than spend considerable money on expansion once there’s a small and stable number of players in the market. That can lead to good investment returns. The returns can improve when investors buy during short-term market fears. That includes the opportunities hitting one company harder during earnings season compared to others. For instance, JetBlue ...
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Mark Sheahan, President and CEO at Graco (GGG), recently added 1,263 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 2 percent, and came to a total cost of $99,828. This marks the first insider buy at the company in the past two years. Graco has had about two dozen insider sales in that timeframe, all following the exercise of company stock options. The sales have mostly been near where shares current trade, or at higher prices. Overall, company insiders own 0.8 percent ...
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Mortgage REIT AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC) has dropped slightly so far this year, as interest rates continue to rise. One trader expects shares to decline even further into next year. That’s based on the March 2024 $9 puts. With 225 days until expiration, 22,050 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 232, for a 95-fold jump in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $0.54 to make the bearish bet. Shares recently traded at $10, so ...
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So far, this year has been kind to semiconductor companies. That’s because most of them can benefit from the exploding interest in AI technology. However, the hardware companies may have run up a bit too quickly. The software companies behind AI likely have more room to run. There’s a good amount of competition, both in AI prompts, and for developing AI software tools that can combine and leverage the power of multiple pieces of AI software. One big cap winner in the ...
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Scott Watson, CIO at Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), recently bought 5,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by 20 percent, and came to a total cost just over $61,000. This marks the first buy since a company director bought 1,675 shares back in June. And a cluster of directors bought back in May, and the company CEO picked up shares in late April. A few EVPs have been sellers of shares in small amounts in the past few months. Overall, company insiders ...
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Artificial intelligence software company C3.ai (AI) has nearly quadrupled since the start of the year. one trader sees a short-term pullback in the coming weeks. That’s based on the September 15 $42.50 puts. With 44 days until expiration, 5,021 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 123, for a 33-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $7.11 to make the bearish bet. Shares recently traded for about $42, making this an at-the-money option ...
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The last year has seen consumers slow down in some parts of the market, but gain in others. The biggest gains have come from travel, leisure, and hospitality services, rather than the sale of goods. For a world that was largely locked down for a considerable amount of time, that trend makes sense. It’s also a trend likely to continue for some time. Investors have a number of ways to play this trend. One safe way to do so is to profit ...
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Robert Robotti, a director at Tidewater (TDW) recently added 1,135 shares. The buy increased his holdings by less than 1 percent, and came to a total price of $64,763. The director has been the only active insider over the past year, with eight total buys and one sale. The sale totaled less than $4,500, but the total buys have added up to over $35 million. Overall, company insiders own about 1.4 percent of shares. The offshore oil services company has nearly tripled ...
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