Trading Tips Blog

Consumer lender Ally Financial (ALLY) is up 12 percent over the past year, lagging the overall market’s returns. One trader sees shares rising in the coming weeks. That’s based on the March $39 calls. With 48 days until expiration, 4,261 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 104, for a 41-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $0.65 to make the bullish bet. Ally shares recently traded for about $36.50, so the option would ...
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The market may be hitting new all-time highs, but many stocks aren’t going along for the ride. That’s creating some value plays for investors. Stocks with beaten down prices offer better valuations than high-flying stocks. Plus, beaten down stocks can also offer investors a great dividend as well. That pays investors well to wait for a recovery. Once that happens, investors can potentially earn years of returns in a short period of time. One beaten down name right now is conglomerate 3M ...
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Control Empresarial De Capitales, a major holder of Talos Energy (TALO), recently increased their position by 130 percent. They bought 19,658,119 shares, at a cost of just under $230 million. The fund was the most recent insider buyer with two purchases in November totaling about $23 million. Otherwise, other major holders of Talos Energy have been sellers going back to mid-2023 and earlier. Overall, institutions own about 70 percent of outstanding Talos shares. Company insiders own about 22.4 percent of ...
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Shipping giant Nordic American Tankers (NAT) is up 45 percent over the past year, more than double the return of the S&P 500. One trader is betting shares will continue higher in the coming weeks. That’s based on the March 15 $4.50 calls. With 49 days until expiration, 4,965 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 155, for a 32-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $0.27 to make the bullish bet. Nordic shares ...
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Chipmaker stocks continue to trend higher. Even with these companies making big moves over the last year, there’s still more room to run as there’s growth ahead. Technologies such as artificial intelligence ensure a bright future. However, there are other hardware components that are critical to the success of a technology. And some of those names haven’t fared as well, since they don’t get the big attention that the chipmakers have. One key hardware component is memory storage. That could come Read More About This

William Shepard, a director at CME Group (CME), recently bought 1,390 shares. The buy increased his position by 1 percent, and came to a total cost of $281,368. The director was also a buyer in late December, acquiring 278 shares at a cost just under $59,000. Over the past year, the director has made a number of other insider buys, even as other company directors and officers have been regular and consistent sellers of CME shares. Overall, CME Group insiders own ...
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Beverage chain giant Starbucks (SBUX) has been a market laggard with an 11 percent decline over the past year. However, shares have been prone to popping during earnings season. One trader is betting that will happen when the company reports next week. That’s based on the February 2 $99 calls. With 9 days until expiration, 19,216 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 235, for an 82-fold rise in volume. The buyer of the calls paid $0.95. Starbucks shares recently ...
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Homebuilder stocks have had a strong winning streak lately. The housing market as a whole has been frozen over the last year. Rising mortgage rates have kept existing homeowners from looking to change houses. That’s resulted in most home sales coming from new, rather than existing, homes. And it’s allowed homebuilder stocks to soar. Now, with interest rates potentially coming down, they could continue that winning streak in the months ahead. That could be a boon for a higher-end homebuilder like Toll ...
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