Bet on double-digit drop by year-end. The December 20th $30 put options onKontoor Brands (KTB) saw nearly 15,000 contracts trade recently, a 90-fold explosion in volume from the prior open interest of 166 contracts and a huge sign of confidence for a drop. The bet implies about a 20 percent downside for shares from their current price of $36.00 before year-end. With a price of just $0.53, or $53 per contract, the option has the potential for a huge move if shares drop. Kontoor Brands, which designs and manufactures apparel products under the Wrangler and Lee brands, was recently spun ...

Bet on further rally in shares.The June 2020 $205 call options onAlibaba Group (BABA) saw over 5,200 contracts trade, a 7-fold surge in volume. The trader is betting that shares, currently around $187, will rally about 9.6 percent higher in the next 224 days—a solid bet if some of the trade war truce headlines prove true this time. Based on the price paid by the trader of $12 per contract, they’ll make a profit if shares are at least $217 come expiration. With shares trading only as high as $196 in the past year, it’s a bet not just on a further rally, but on shares making it to new high...

Surge in calls expiring Friday.The November 8th $52 call options onMicron (MU) saw over 2,700 contracts trade against a prior open interest of 256, an 11-fold surge in volume. Given that the option expires on Friday, and with Micron shares around $49.50, shares of the company would need to rally another $2.50 for the option to close in-the-money. As market sentiment has improved on trade issues, tech companies like Micron could move that much higher this week.Action to take: Micron shares certainly look attractive, even near 52-week highs. On a valuation basis, shares trade at just nine tim...

In-the-money puts suggests bearish move ahead.The April 2020 $17 put options onHanesbrands (HBI) saw over 13,700 contracts trade, a 68-fold surge in volume. Oddly, with shares of the company already at $15.50, the option is already about $1.50 in-the-money, and should move dollar-for-dollar with shares lower from here. At a price of $2.70, the put buyer really paid just $1.20 in premium, and shares would need to only slip to $14 for the put buyer to make money by April. Hanesbrands sells simple apparel such as T-shirts, socks, activewear, and so on. Although shares have underperformed th...

Multiple insiders buy after earnings.A number of insiders atDiebold Nixdorf (DBD) bought shares following earnings. The buys included multiple directors, a Senior Vice President of Services, and a 28,000 share buy from the President and CEO. The CEO’s buy came to nearly $195,000, and most directors picked up around $50,000 in shares. The SVP bought nearly $7,000 in shares. Insider data shows a number of insider buys this year, with only one sale. Diebold Nixdorf provides commerce solutions for financial institutions and retailers, including products such as cash recyclers and dispensers,...

At-the-money put buying suggests dropOver 6,050 contracts traded on the November 15th, 2019 $30.50 put option on JD.com (JD). That’s a 17-fold surge in volume against the prior open interest of 354 contracts. The option has 14 days left before expiration, and shares of JD are at $31.24, so they’d still need to drop for the option to close in-the-money. Adding in the $0.80 option premium, and traders are betting on a drop under $30. The Chinese e-commerce giant often has some swings up and down, and may have just started a short-term pullback based on the latest charts. If that’s the case...

Director and major holder ups stake.Peter Kamin, a director and major holder with over 10 percent of shares inTile Shop Holdings (TTS), recently bought another 426,295 shares. This increased his stake by over 7.7 percent, and came to a total just over $750,000. Insiders have been net buyers in the past year, largely by Karmin and another director that also has a stake over 10 percent. All told, insiders own just under 80 percent of shares. Tile Shop Holdings, a retail outlet for natural stone and man-made tiles with over 141 stores in 31 states, has seen shares decline by nearly 80 perce...

Big bet on decline in shares in the next six months.Over 4,000 contracts traded on the April 17th, 2020 $10 put options onMarathon Oil (MRO). The option had a prior open interest of just 175 trades, making for a 23-fold rise in volume on the option. With a current price around $11.50, shares would need to drop 15 percent for the option trade to move in-the-money. For a company in the energy space, that kind of move in six months is easily achievable. The option currently trades around $0.66 or $66 per contract; the option would need to be at $9.40 or lower for the put buyer to profit at ...

Founder and Executive Chairman makes 300,000 share buy. Richard Kinder, the billionaire founder and Executive Chairman of Kinder Morgan (KMI), recently bought 300,000 shares. At a cost of just over $6 million, the buy only increases his stake by about 0.1 percent. Insider data for the company as a whole shows major regular buys from Kinder, but more mixed results from other executives, including a few sales in the past year. On total share count, however, insiders are buyers far more than sellers. Kinder Morgan is an energy infrastructure company with a focus on pipelines that transpo...

Near-the-money bet on share rally through June.The June 2020 $280 call options onMastercard (MA), saw a surge in volume from 345 open contracts to over 4,000 trade. With shares around $277, the option is near-the-money, and could start moving dollar-for-dollar higher with shares between now and June if the company rallies. At a price of $21.10 per option, or $2,110 per contract, it’s not for every trader, but it’s far cheaper than the price of buying 100 shares and hoping for a move higher. Shares of the payment processing company have had a great run in the past year, nearly tripling th...