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...

1 2These firms show their employees the love—and deliver great results to shareholders.There are many ways to value potential investment opportunities. A more off-the-radar approach is to look for companies that get high ratings from employees. The logic is simple. When employees are happy, they’re likely to be more productive. Happy work environments are conducive to open communication about policies or projects that are (or aren’t) working. It makes hiring and retaining top talent easier, and that factor can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. That’s why one way to s...

Director makes $1.99 million buy.Mellody Hobson, a director atJP Morgan Chase (JPM), picked up 16,000 shares recently, increasing her stake in the company by 15 percent. At current prices, the buy came to $1.994 million, and leaves the director with just over 117,000 shares. Insider data shows that the banking behemoth has had a mix of insiders both buying and selling in the past few years, which is typical of big companies that pay executives in stock options. Shares of the company trade under 13 times earnings, and the company has expanded its dividend payout for a 2.9 percent yield at...

Thomas Shaw, President and CEO ofRetractable Technologies (RVP), added 1,500 shares to his stake recently. Shaw owns over 18.7 million shares of the company, making the increase in his total holdings a modest one. Shaw is a frequent buyer of shares in small lots—likely just enough to ensure the small-cap company’s shares don’t move wildly, and he has been buying shares as they have continued to move higher in the past few months. Retractable Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of safety syringes and other medical products for the healthcare industry, has seen shares advance 85 perc...

Bet in surge of call buying.There was a 25-fold surge in volume from 111 contracts to over 2,800 on the November 15th 2019 $16.50 call options onPetroleo Brasileiro (PBR), also known as Petrobras. The options, with shares of the Brazilian oil company trading at $15.50, would trade in-the-money with a $1 rally in shares in the next 22 days. At a cost of just $0.19, or $19 per contract, it’s a cheap bet on shares to rally in the next few weeks. The news comes as workers at the company state that they will go n strike over the weekend. The company has also faced a variety of scandals and st...

Bet on shares moving higher after earnings.Over 6,800 contracts traded on the November 8th $29 call options onKraft Heinz (KHC). Compared to the open interest of 141 contracts, that’s a 48-fold surge in volume. With shares of the company around $28.30, shares need to move just 2.5 percent higher in the coming 16 days before expiration to move in-the-money. For the call buyer, paying $0.90, to profit, shares need to move closer to $30 by then. With the company next reporting earnings on October 31st, the trade is a bet on shares doing just that.Action to take: As an earnings season trade,...

Cluster of insiders pick up shares.A number of insiders atIndependence Contract Drilling (ICD) have started buying shares in recent days. The buys include a 6,400 share buy from the CFO, a 20,000 share buy from a director, a 5,000 share buy from the CEO, and a 2,500 buy from the company’s head of HR. These buys follow up on another cluster of insider buys going into the prior week as well, and so far insiders have bought over $50,000 in shares this month. Full insider data shows an explosion in buying from corporate executives, with just a handful of small sales. Independence Contract...

Bet on decline in shares over next few months.Over 7,500 contracts traded on the January 2020 $26 put options onWheaton Precious Metals (WPM). Against the prior open interest of 190, it’s a 40-fold surge in volume. With shares of the stock currently trading around $26.50, the option trades close to in-the-money, and could start moving penny-for-penny with shares should they decline in the coming days. For the trader to make money on the options, which cost around $1.40, shares would need to fall to $24.60. Wheaton Precious Metals operates silver and gold ore mines, with agreements for 19...

Vice Chairman adds to holdings.Willis Lee, Vice Chairman and COO atEmmaus Life Sciences (EMMA), recently bought 7,890 shares, increasing his total stake by nearly 3 percent to 282,000 shares. The buy cost just under $21,000. This follows up on an 11,000 share buy he made last week, and the company’s Chairman and CEO has been active in the past months as well. Overall, insiders have been only buyers in the past three years, with a recent uptick in buying as shares have dropped. Emmaus Life Sciences is a biotech company engaging in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treat...

1 2 The market is undervaluing these companies following their earnings beat. Nearly 25 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 will report earnings this week. But many companies have already reported—and so far, this earnings season has been great. For all the fears of an economic slowdown, for all the fears of a trade war—most companies are just doing what they do best, offering products and services that remain in demand. It’s no surprise that most companies can beat expectations when fear has driven those expectations down. Of the companies that have already beaten earnings ...