Trading Tips Blog

Companies have to contend with competition. That’s a good thing. Competition means similar services, often with new features that customers demand. Or it can mean lower prices. When one company announces a new product that directly competes with an existing service somewhere else, shares may take a dive. The extent and length of the drop depends on how credible a new offering is at displacing existing customers. For instance, Apple (AAPL) is working on ways to improve its payment system, Apple Pay ...
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John Thornton, a director at Ford Motor Company (F), recently bought 24,790 shares. The buy increased his position by 7%, and came to a total cost of $299,463. This is the first insider buy of 2024. The last insider buy occurred back in December, when the company’s chief EV design officer bought 182,000 shares, priced at just over $2.01 million. There have been some moderate sales by company insiders over the past year, largely following the exercise of stock options. Overall, Read More

Coffee chain Starbucks (SBUX) is down 17% over the past year, as same-store sales in the U.S. have considerably slowed. One company expects shares to trend higher over the next month. That’s based on the July 12 $82 calls. With 30 days until expiration, 8,367 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 129, for a 65-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the calls paid $2.05 to make the bullish bet. Starbucks shares recently traded for about ...
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Investors in the chip space have fared well over the past year and a half. Soaring interest in AI technologies bodes well for any designer and manufacturer of semiconductor stocks. Within that space, some companies have done better than others. What really matters for investors is finding which companies can continue to trend higher from here, and even become the leading play in the space. For semiconductor stocks, the real story is insatiable chip demand. And that means that manufacturing plays could ...
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Katharine Weymouth, a director at Republic Services (RSG), recently bought 540 shares. The buy came to a total cost of $100,040, and is a new position for the director. The buy comes a month after another director picked up 79 shares, paying just under $15,000 to increase her position by nearly 80%. RSG insiders were more likely to be sellers of shares over the past year, including sizeable sales from the company’s CMO and CFO. Overall, Republic Services insiders own 0.1% ...
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Oil and gas exploration and production company Hess Corporation (HES), is up 9% over the past year. That’s far lagged the overall stock market. One trader is betting on a potential decline into next year. That’s based on the January 2025 $145 puts. With 219 days until expiration, 7,250 contracts traded compared to a prior open interest of 153, for a 47-fold rise in volume on the trade. The buyer of the puts paid $10.20 to make the bearish bet. Hess shares ...
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Big companies can often go in and out of favor with the market. But companies that underperform tend to catch up over time. And investors who have been disappointed with such a company will be happy when that outperformance occurs. Many stocks are still underperforming. In a market that’s driven by news about AI developments, that’s no surprise. But it also means that today’s buyers can get a relative value in non-AI parts of the market. Defense contractors are one such play ...
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Mary Hopkins, a director at American States Water (AWR), recently bought 560 shares. The buy increased her position by 18%, and came to a total cost of $40,057. The buy comes after another director bought 640 shares, paying $49,677 to do so. Other directors have been buyers of shares going back to last August. There has only been one insider sale, also from a director, over the past year. Overall, American States Water insiders own 0.8% of shares. The water utility is ...
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