Trading Tips Blog

Traders bet on further drop in shares by February. On Wednesday, over 15,000 contracts traded on February 2020 $8 put options on Freeport McMoRan (FCX), one of the world’s leading copper giants. With an open interest of around 1,000 contracts prior to the trade, the volume in the option has surged 15-fold. Shares of the copper mining company currently trade around $8.80, making the $8 strike price on the put option a bet on the share price dropping at least 10 percent ...
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Director $116,000 buy at regional bank. On Tuesday, August 27th, director Scott Toothaker picked up 5,371 shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB). The buy increased his stake by 22 percent, to just over 29,500 shares. The purchase totaled just over $116,000. Insiders at the bank have been buyers year-to-date, with many purchases occurring at prices as much as 18 percent higher than where shares currently trade. The last insider sale occurred in 2018, but has been far lower than the total insider ...
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Director makes quarter-million buy. On Monday, August 26th, director Gretchen Haggerty bought 6,220 shares of Johnson Controls International (JCI). The cost came in just over $257,000, and represents a 93 percent increase in shares. This is the first insider buy at the company since late 2017. Insiders have largely been sellers of shares at JCI year-to-date, at prices ranging from the current price to 8 percent higher, a typical pattern for a large, international company. Johnson Controls International is a diversified industrial and ...
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Surge January 2020 put buying. On Tuesday, over 3,050 contracts traded on the January 2020 $19 put options on Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO). With a prior open interest of 163, this is a 19-fold surge in volume for the option contract. With shares of the company currently trading just over $20, it’s a bet on a 5 percent decline in shares in the next 142 days before the option expires. Melco owns, develops, and operates casino and entertainment resort facilities in Asia, ...
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Surge in deep in-the-money put option. On Monday, over 2,900 contracts traded on the October $35 put options on Kraft-Heinz (KHC). This represented a 23-fold surge in volume on the options, which had a prior interest of 126 contracts outstanding. With shares around $25.50, the put options traded at $9.50, all in-the-money. With 52 days left to go on the trade, the option appeared to offer investors nearly no time premium. Kraft-Heinz shares traded up with the overall market on Monday, although the ...
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EVP makes $2 million buy. On Friday, August 23rd, Gregory McKelvey bought 200,000 shares of Fossil Group (FOSL), where he serves as Executive Vice President. The total purchase price came out to just over $2 million, and increases his stake in the company by nearly 60 percent to over 536,000 shares. This follows on a 20,000 share buy on August 22nd by EVP Darren Hart, and an EVP buy back in May for 5,000 shares. Before that, insiders were net sellers of shares, ...
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Surge in 2021 call buying. On Friday, over 1,980 contracts traded on a January 2021 $15 call option on Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR). With a prior open interest of 156 contracts, this represents a 16-fold surge in volume. With shares of the company currently trading around $17, the option buyer is about $2 in-the-money per $6.60 contract. As such, the option should move dollar-for-dollar higher with shares. Nektar Therapeutics develops drug candidates for cancer, auto-immune disease, and chronic pain in the United States. The ...
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CFO and director buy shares. On Thursday, August 22nd, Keith Koci, CFO of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF)picked up 12,500 shares of the company, paying just over $101,000 to do so. This buy increased his total stake in shares by 17 percent. He was joined by director John Baldwin, who bought 7,000 shares, a $58,000 buy. That increased the director’s stake by 6.5 percent. Insiders have bought earlier in the month as well, and have been net buyers with no sales since May. Insiders have ...
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