Trading Tips Blog

Big bet on continued decline through September. On Wednesday, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dropped following decent, but lackluster earnings. Some traders saw further weakness, as evidenced by a number of bearish options trades following the earnings report. One particularly active option was the September 20th $26.00 put options, expiring about 50 days away. The option saw over 3,100 contracts trade against a prior interest of 174, for a nearly 18-fold increase in volume. With AMD shares knocked down to $31.15 in ...
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Big bet on share decline by September. On Tuesday, an unusual number of the September 2019 $8 puts on Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) traded. Over 10,100 contracts traded against a prior open interest of 443, a 23-fold surge in volume. With shares currently trading around $9.30, the $8 strike price is a bet that shares will drop at least 14 percent in the next 51 days before expiration. Shares of the company next report earnings in late September, but shares have ...
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Chairman and President make buys. On Monday July 29th, Paul Yonamine, Chairman and CEO of Central Pacific Financial Corp (CPF) bought over 8.600 shares of the company, paying just over $255,000 to do so. He was joined by President Catherine Ngo, who bought 8,550 shares, paying just over $253,500. These buys follow off of some buys by directors back in mid-June. Central Pacific Financial Corp is based on Honolulu, Hawaii, and operates a traditional bank with 35 branches and 78 ATMs in the ...
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CEO makes $4.5 million buy. On Friday July 26th, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) CEO Seifi Ghasemi picked up 20,000 shares of the company. At $227 per share, the total cost came to a whopping $4.5 million bet on the company. The new buy brings his total share count to nearly 454,000 shares. This marks the first insider buy at the company for 2019, and only one insider has sold shares at the industrial giant this year. Air Products & Chemicals provides atmospheric ...
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Big bet on shares rallying through January. On Monday, a bullish bet was made on Anheuser-Busch Inbev (BUD), maker of Budweiser and other beverages and spirits. The bet was on the January 2020 $90 call options on the stock, expiring 171 days from now. Over 15,000 of these contracts traded, against an open interest of 1,233, making for a 12-fold surge in volume on the option. Even more unusual is the fact that shares currently trade around $101, making the option about $11 ...
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Director makes $50,000 buy. Last week, Richard Fredericks bought 3,105 shares of Cadence Bancorp (CADE), increasing his stake by 3 percent. He paid nearly $50,000. This brings his total stake in the company to nearly 108,000 shares. Other directors have been buyers, largely back in May. Insiders have been sellers of shares at prices at least 20-25 percent higher than where they currently trade. Cadence is a Houston-based bank that operates 66 offices in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia. The bank ...
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Big bet on shares declining in the next month. On Friday, a bearish bet on Caterpillar (CAT)led the options market for the size of unusual activity. Over 7,700 contracts traded on the August $128 put options, against an open interest of 123. That is a 62-fold surge in volume. With the share price around $134, shares will need to fall at least 4.5 percent for the option to trade in-the-money before the option expires on August 16th. Caterpillar is a global leader in ...
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Big bet on shares rallying through October. On Thursday, a large bet was made on shares of Targa Resources Group (TRGP) continuing its recent rally higher. Over 5,250 of the October $43 call options traded hands, against an open interest of 242—making for a 21-fold increase in volume. With a current share price around $40.50, this is a bet that shares will move at least 6 percent higher in the next 84 days. Targa is a storage and transport company for natural gas ...
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