Trading Tips Blog

Carol Foster, a director at
Hercules Capital (HTGC) recently bought 3,850 shares. The buy increased her holdings by 30 percent, and came to a cost of just over $50,000. This is the first insider transaction of 2020, and the first insider buy since 2015. Foster previously sold some shares last year at a price near where the stock trades today. Hercules is an investor in early-stage companies, typically with a focus on new technologies. The company is structured as a business development ...
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Different companies in different sectors of the market are measured best by different metrics. A restaurant may look at turnover, or how many times it can seat customers at tables every day. In the tech space, innovation is key. And for the chipmaker stocks, innovation is ongoing and iterative. That’s why spending on research and development (R&D) in the chipmaker space is on track to rise 6 percent in 2020, even with a stalled economy. Based on how much a company Read More About This

Alternative energy play
First Solar (FSLR) has generally been trending up, although shares recently saw a strong pullback. One trader is betting that the drop is temporary, and shares will trend higher. That’s the logic behind the surge in the December $92.50 calls. Expiring in 29 days, the calls will move in-the-money on a 14 percent rise in shares. Over 8,760 contracts traded, a 25-fold rise in volume from the prior interest near 350. The buyer of the calls paid about $1.38, or ...
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It’s sometimes dangerous to follow into a trade that’s popular with retail investors. In a market selloff, they may be quick to send shares lower, and without institutional investors, rallies can be out of proportion to a company’s prospects. But with one tech name reporting massive earnings and sales growth, there’s more room to run, even with so many retail traders loving the stock. With a number of analyst upgrades as well, traders can still play the long-term uptrend. The stock?
Nio (NIO) ...
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Christian Brickman, President and CEO of
Sally Beauty Holdings (SBH), remelt added 11,350 shares to his holdings. The purchase price came to just over $124,000 and increased his total stake by 2.5 percent. This follows a 10,000 share buy from the CEO in August, around the same time a director picked up shares as well. Insiders have been active throughout the year, with insider buys handily beating insider sales at the company. Shares of the cosmetics firm remain down 40 percent over ...
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SRS Investment Management, a major holder at
Avis Budget Group (CAR), added to their stake with a 149,796 share buy. The purchase increased the fund’s stake in the company by 0.8 percent, and came to a total cost of just over $5.36 million. This marks the fund’s first purchase in over two months. Besides being a regular buyer throughout the past few months, a number of directors bought shares in March. Shares of the car rental firm tanked during the pandemic lockdowns, ...
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The stock market is the amalgamation of individual stocks. However, not all stocks are created equal. How a stock is weighted in an index can have a huge impact on the overall returns. That’s why swings in big tech names can increasingly move the market as a whole, up or down. Another factor is whether or not to include a stock in an index. Different indices have different requirements, such as a number of quarters of profitability, before they can be ...
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Big data company
Palantir (PLTR), which recently went public, has seen shares rise from an initial price near $9 to over $17 in recent sessions. At least one trader sees that uptrend continuing for some time. That’s based on the March 2021 $18 calls. These near-the-money options saw over 6,000 contracts trade hands, a 55-fold surge from the prior open interest of 109. The trader paid about $3.10 for the calls on average. With a limited history to operate on, shares don’t even ...
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