Trading Tips Blog

Retail companies have had a tough year. Big-box stores and companies in the e-commerce space have zoomed ahead of other players. Companies that rely on in-store sales and foot traffic, such as stores at malls, have fallen by the wayside. Yet with earnings season underway, and with the economy trending up again, a few names in the mall-based space are starting to look attractive. One bank even brazenly upgraded one such name right before it reported earnings! JPMorgan Chase upgraded shares of ...
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2020 has been a solid year for payment processing companies. From added contactless features to the inclusion of cryptocurrencies, it’s a space that’s showing tremendous innovation over the credit card networks or traditional banks. That’s led to some massivemoves higher in a number of stocks. One such rallying name has been an underperformer, but looks set to continue heading higher. That company is Fiserv (FISV). The merchant acquiring company for retailers is an essential e-commerce play, but one that hasn’t had the ...
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Christian Winkle, a director at Beazer Homes (BZH), recently bought 5,950 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 32 percent, and came to a total cost just over $82,000. This marks the first buy from insiders this year. The last insider buys occurred in 2019. Insiders have been large sellers of shares this year, including a large sale by a director in March when prices were near their panic lows. Strong home price and sales trends have allowed the homemaker to ...
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At least one trader is betting that pharma giant Bristol Myers-Squibb (BMY) will have a big rally in the first half of 2021. That’s based on the call buying in the June 2021 $72.50 calls. The strike price of the option is about 15 percent higher than where shares currently trade at $62. Over 2,500 contracts traded against a prior open interest of 263, a nearly 10-fold rise in volume. The buyer of the contracts paid about $1.09 on average. While BMY ...
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European bank Credit Suisse (CS) has seen its shares rise over the past few months. One trader sees an even bigger move ahead. That’s based on the March 2021 $14 calls. Over 4,300 contracts traded yesterday against a prior interest of 213, for a 20-fold gain in volume. The call buyer paid about $0.30 for the calls, which would move in-the-money if shares rose about 15 percent. The $14 strike price would put shares about where they traded before the March ...
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Carol Foster, a director at Hercules Capital (HTGC) recently bought 3,850 shares. The buy increased her holdings by 30 percent, and came to a cost of just over $50,000. This is the first insider transaction of 2020, and the first insider buy since 2015. Foster previously sold some shares last year at a price near where the stock trades today. Hercules is an investor in early-stage companies, typically with a focus on new technologies. The company is structured as a business ...
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Different companies in different sectors of the market are measured best by different metrics. A restaurant may look at turnover, or how many times it can seat customers at tables every day. In the tech space, innovation is key. And for the chipmaker stocks, innovation is ongoing and iterative. That’s why spending on research and development (R&D) in the chipmaker space is on track to rise 6 percent in 2020, even with a stalled economy. Based on how much a company Read More About This

Alternative energy play First Solar (FSLR) has generally been trending up, although shares recently saw a strong pullback. One trader is betting that the drop is temporary, and shares will trend higher. That’s the logic behind the surge in the December $92.50 calls. Expiring in 29 days, the calls will move in-the-money on a 14 percent rise in shares. Over 8,760 contracts traded, a 25-fold rise in volume from the prior interest near 350. The buyer of the calls paid about $1.38, ...
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