Trading Tips Blog

June 2020 put buying indicates potential drop expected. The June 2020 $32.50 put options on Altria Group (MO) saw over 4,000 contracts trade against a prior open interest of 400, making for a 10-fold surge in volume. With shares of the company at $43, shares will need to drop 25 percent in the next 247 days for this option to move in-the-money. With a cost of $1.04, or $104 per contract, the put buyer would need shares to drop to $31.50 before ...
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Call buying suggests rally continuing this month. The October 25th $270 call options on Apple (AAPL) saw over 7,200 contracts trade against a prior open interest of 137, a 53-fold surge in volume against the prior open interest. With shares at $236, it’s a bet on shares moving 14 percent higher to move in-the-money before the end of the month, which is unlikely, especially as the company won’t report earnings until October 30th. At a price of just $0.04, or $4 per contract, ...
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Major holder adds with a $5.1 million buy. Abrams Capital, a major stakeholder in Camping World Holdings (CWH), increased their stake by 12 percent recently, with the additional buy of 650,182 shares. The total cost for that additional stake came to just over $5.1 million, and increases the fund’s total holdings to just over 6.1 million shares. Insider data shows that there have been no insider sales since early 2018, and insiders have been buyers at prices as high as 27 ...
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Casino operator picks up a bull. The March 2020 $110 call options on Wynn Resorts (WYNN) saw over 2,050 contracts trade against a prior open interest of 231, about a 10-fold surge in volume. The bet, which expires in 158 days, is about $1.30 in the money, given the recent share price of $111.30. It should therefore move dollar-for-dollar with shares higher, and could double if shares get to $125.00. If shares get back to their old high of $150, the option ...
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Call buying predicts big move higher in the next month. The November 15th $4.00 call options on Encana (ECA) saw over 21,800 contracts trade, an 85-fold surge in volume relative to the prior open interest of 258. With shares already at $4.30, the option is about 7 percent in-the-money, and should move penny-for-penny with shares in the next 35 days until expiration. The buyer paid $0.50, or $50 per contract, indicating that shares need to be at least $4.50 in the next ...
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Director ups stake by 11 percent. Fred Clark, a director at National Security Group (NSEC), picked up 9,813 shares recently, increasing his stake by 11 percent and leaving him with 98,723 shares. The buy cost just over $118,000. Insiders have been buyers at the company in the past year, with the last insider sale occurring in 2018. Overall, insiders own 52 percent of outstanding shares, a huge sign that management is aligned with shareholders for growing long-term value. National Security Group is ...
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Director makes $275,000 buy. Richard Massey, a director at Cannae Holdings (CNNE), picked up 10,000 shares recently, shelling out just over $275,000 to do so. The buy increased his holdings by nearly 5 percent, to just under 214,000 shares. This is his third buy of shares this year, and other insiders have been buyers at the firm, including the CFO last month. In the past two years, insiders have been steady buyers, with no sellers. Insiders own over 7 percent of ...
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April 2020 put buying suggests further pain for shares. The April 2020 $6 put options on Deutsche Bank (DB) saw over 5,600 contracts trade, an 11-fold increase over the prior open interest of 526. With 190 days until expiration, the trade will move in-the-money if shares fall just $0.90 from their current price of $6.90, or about 15 percent. With shares trading as high as $11.50 in the past year, shares have been nearly halved, and this option trade is a ...
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