Trading Tips Blog

While the stock market has been down over the past year, some sectors look set for a move higher. One such space is in commodities. Inflation remains sticky, which tends to keep prices of hard assets from declining too much. Plus, for many commodities, the fundamentals look strong today. There’s high demand and potentially lower supply for a number of resources. A second year of the Russia/Ukraine conflict looks likely to keep the wheat market tight in particular. One estimate is that ...
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Kristin Van Dask, CFO at
Prospect Capital Corp (PSEC) recently bought 6,000 shares. The buy increased her stake by 10 percent, and came to a total cost just over $41,200. She was also the most recent insider to buy, with a 4,250 share pickup back in November, paying nearly $32,000 . A company director has also been active over the past two years. There have been no insider sales over the past two years either. Overall, insiders at the business development company (BDC) ...
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Video game design studio
Electronic Arts (EA) dropped about 10 percent over the past year. One trader sees shares rebounding in the months ahead. That’s based on the September $125 calls. With 178 days until expiration, 1,307 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 106, for a 12-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $4.65 to make the bullish bet. Shares recently traded for about $113, so the stock would need to rise $12, or ...
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Many industries consolidate over time into just a handful of players. These oligopolies can jockey for market share. Chances are one of the players will move towards higher-end consumers to differentiate, and others may shift to the lower end. Either way, the company that can sport the highest profit margin will typically be the best performer for shareholders over time. Higher profit margins provide more capital for reinvestment in the business, or for dividends or share buybacks for investors. In the credit ...
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Pershing Square Capital Management, a major owner of
Howard Hughes Corp (HHC) has been adding shares in recent days. The fund bought 62,474 more shares, shelling out over $4.6 million, a buy that increased the fund’s holdings by just under 1 percent. This marks the first insider buy of the year. Last year, Pershing Square bought shares on 4 separate occasions, at prices close to where the stock trades today. There was only one insider sale from a company division president. Overall, company ...
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Brazilian iron ore producer
Vale (VALE) is down 17 percent in the past year, with most of that decline occurring in just the past few weeks. One trader sees a potential rebound in the coming weeks. That’s based on the April $15 calls. With 32 days until expiration, 62,023 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 1,004, for a 62-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $1.12 to make the bullish bet. Vale shares recently ...
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Investors are more than willing to place trades outside their comfort zone in a bull market. But in a slowing economy, they tend to gravitate towards the tried and true. That explains the relative outperformance of value stocks in a flat or sideways market. Investors do the same thing as consumers. They cut back on new products and services, and stick with what’s tried and true. That’s why there are so many brands out there – including those at a reasonable ...
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Walter Bettinger, CEO at
Charles Schwab (SCHW), recently bought 50,000 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 8 percent, and came to a total cost of $2.965 million. He was joined by a number of other company officers and directors. The company’s CFO bought 5,000 shares, at a cost of just under $297,000. One director bought 10,000 shares, paying just under $568,000. The buys come just a few weeks after the last insider sales at the company. Overall, company insiders own 6.1 ...
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