Trading Tips Blog

Surge in September call buying. On Thursday, over 20,300 contracts traded on the September 6th 2019 $9 call option on Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). With shares trading around $8.40, the option is a bet on a 6.6 rally in shares in the next 14 days. The option contract had a prior open interest of just 320 contracts, indicating a 63-fold surge in volume on the trade. Bed Bath & Beyond operates 1,533 stores around the world selling various home fashions, furnishings, and ...
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CFO follows large director buys this month. On Wednesday, August 21st, Aaron Alt, CFO of Sally Beauty Holdings (SBH), bought 1,000 more shares, paying just over $12,000 to do so. While a small buy, he is following on two director purchases on August 20th, in the amount of 3,000 and 10,000 shares, at a cost of $36,000 and $119,000 respectively. And on August 2nd, a director bought 7,000 shares as well, shelling out nearly $93,000. Insiders have been buyers of shares earlier in ...
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President and CEO, CFO buying shares this month. On Tuesday, August 20th, James Roberts, President and CEO of Granite Construction (GVA), picked up 2,000 shares of the company, paying nearly $56,000 to do so. The increase in shares leaves him with just over 210,000 shares of the company. This is his second buy of the year, having picked up 3,000 shares on August 15th. The company’s CFO bought over 2,500 shares on August 12th and August 14th. A director also picked up ...
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Surge in September put buying. On Wednesday, over 5,000 contracts traded on the September 2019 $69.50 put options on ExxonMobil (XOM). With a prior open interest of 260, this was a 19-fold surge in volume. With a current share price at $70, the options are just out-of-the-money. The option buyer could see a penny-for-penny move should the shares fall less than 1 percent from here. ExxonMobil shares have traded as low as $64.50 in the past year, so a drop to those lows ...
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Surge in put-buying indicates drop by the month’s end. On Tuesday, over 4,700 contracts traded on an August 30th $123 put option on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). The bet, with shares of the healthcare giant trading around $131, implies a 7 percent drop by the end of next week. The option, with a prior open interest of around 150, saw volume increase by 32-fold as a result of the surge in trading. The company could certainly see shares drop that quickly. In the ...
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Chief Legal officer makes six-figure buy. On Monday, August 19th, Michael Reeves, Chief Legal Officer at Lumber Liquidators (LL), bought 14,900 shares, a stake that cost nearly $124,000. The buy increases his stake in the company by 50 percent. This is the third buy by insiders in 2019, including a 14,000 share purchase by the company’s CEO, Dennis Knowles on August 8th, at a similar price. Insiders have been inactive in the stock between 2015 and 2018, with no insider trades recorded. Lumber ...
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CEO and CFO pick up shares of hotel chain. On Friday, August 15th, Geoffrey Ballotti, President and CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (WH), picked up 10,000 shares of the hotel chain, paying nearly $503,000 in total to do so. He was joined by David Wyshner, the company CFO, who picked up 2,000 shares, paying just over $100,000. Both executives are following up on a 10,000 share buy made on August 14th by director Ronald Nelson, who managed to pay just under ...
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Bet on drop in natural gas operator in next month. On Monday, a staggering 33,000 contracts traded on the September 2019 $17.50 put option on Apache Corp (APA). With 31 days to expiration and with shares currently around $20.60, it’s a bet that share will drop 15 percent in the past month. With a prior open interest of 101 contracts, this contract led the day Monday for volume relative to open interest with a 325-fold surge in volume—indicating a high-conviction trade. Apache Corp ...
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