Trading Tips Blog

Markets don’t just react to events. They often overreact. That’s why when a short-term problem flares up and goes away, the market tends to react sharply, then revert back to whatever it was doing before. Last week saw the largest IT outage in history. A security software update caused a number of systems to slow down, crash, or otherwise stop responding altogether. However, the world was largely able to move on and get its work done. However, the cybersecurity stock involved, CrowdStrike ...
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Aleem Gillani, a director at U.S. Bancorp (USB), recently bought 10,000 shares. The buy is an initial stake for the director, and came to a cost of $499,900. This marks the first insider buy since January 2017. This year, there have been four insider sales, three of which occurred following the exercise of stock options. The largest sale was for $3.86 million from the company’s President and CEO. Overall, USB insiders own 0.1% of shares. The regional bank is up 16% over ...
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Online car dealership Carvana (CVNA) is up 183% over the past year, soaring well beyond the overall stock market’s return. One trader sees a pullback in the second half of the year. That’s based on the January 2025 $115 puts. With 178 days until expiration, 19,001 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 288, for a 66-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $18.70 to make the bearish bet. Carvana shares recently traded for ...
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With the stock market starting to show some love for smaller companies, it could also be a time to look towards investing overseas. That’s because the market’s returns have been dominated by big-cap tech stocks domiciled in the United States. Investing internationally offers investors global diversification. And with inflation on the decline globally, and with global central banks nearing a point of interest rate cuts, international stocks stand to benefit in the years ahead. While investing internationally can be challenging, investing in ...
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Eric Singer, a director and major holder at Barnes & Noble Education (BNED), recently bought 18,000 shares. The buy increased his position by less than 1%, and came to total cost of $146,630. The buy follows on another purchase by the director earlier in the month for 87,000 shares, valued at $606,576. Another company director also bought 130,000 shares, for just over $921,800. There have been no insider sales over the past year. Overall, Barnes & Noble Education insiders own 59.6% ...
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Oil and gas drilling services provider Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) is down 25% over the past year. One trader sees shares declining over the coming weeks. That’s based on the August 16 $10 puts. With 25 days until expiration, 48,155 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 711, for a 68-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $0.20 to make the bearish bet. Patterson-UTI Energy shares recently traded for about $10.75, so they would need ...
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After dominating market returns for the past 18 months, tech stocks are starting to take a breather. But the overall market continues to trend higher, thanks to a rotation underway. Investors are finally taking some profits in tech and moving that cash into lesser-loved stocks. Those stocks tend to be a bit slower moving, but after tech’s latest outperformance, they may take the lead in the second half of the year. That could mean good returns in more value-oriented stocks. One such ...
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Jeffrey Goldstein, a director at Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), recently bought 719 shares. The buy increased his stake by 8%, and came to a total cost of $55,526. Goldstein has been buying a similarly-sized position each quarter. Other company directors have made similar buys over the past two years as well. The last insider sale came from the company CFO in June 2020. Insiders have generally been far bigger buyers than sellers over the last two years. Overall, FIS insiders ...
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