Senior VP buys nearly $100k in shares.Kyle Larkin, a Senior Vice President atGranite Construction (GVA), picked up 3,500 shares of the company, increasing his stake by nearly 73 percent. The cost came to just under $100,000. Insiders have been net buyers, and data shows that in the past year, corporate insiders have gone from owning 1.8 percent of the company to 2 percent, a small but important increase. Granite Construction is in the business of infrastructure contracting and construction materials productions in the United States, with a focus on transportation, water, specialty, and m...

Volume soars on late September calls.The September 20th $245 call options onHome Depot (HD) saw nearly 8,900 contracts trade against an open interest of 123. That’s a 72-fold surge in volume that the company’s shares, trading around $230, can rise another $15 in the next 11 days. With a cost of just $0.14, or $14 per contract, any move higher could move the option higher on a percentage basis. Given the 52-week range of shares, another 6.5 percent rally in shares seems over-optimistic. Home Depot is a retailer with a focus on hardware, tools, and other home products, with thousands of lo...

Put option buying bets on decline.The October 4th $26 put options on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw over 10,400 contracts trading—a 41-fold increase over the prior open interest of 250 contracts. With 28 days left to go and with shares around $32, the bet is that shares will decline nearly 19 percent. At just $0.15 for the option, or $15 for the full contract, the trade may simply be a hedge following the strong rally this week on the announcement of new trade talks. Advanced Micro Devices is an industry-leading name in the semiconductor space with computing and graphics processing tec...

Shares to head higher through October.Over 10,500 contracts traded on the October $285 call option on Netflix (NFLX), a 76-fold increase in volume given the contract’s prior open interest of 140. With 43 days to go before expiration, the option is a bet that shares will trend higher. Netflix shares trade around $288, putting these $285 calls $3 in-the-money. Any change in Netflix shares from here should cause the option to move dollar-for-dollar, less the decline of the remaining time premium. Netflix is set to post its next earnings report just before the option expires. The distributer...

CEO adds over 3,000 shares.Vikram Verma picked up over 3,000 shares of8x8 (EGHT), where he serves as CEO. The buy cost just over $73,000 and leaves the CEO with just over 889,000 shares of the company. This marks his second buy this year, following a 4,200 share purchase in August. Insiders have a mixed track record at the company, with these CEO buys being offset by sales by the Chief Product officer year-to-date. 8x8 is a cloud communications company offering solutions for small and midsized businesses worldwide. The company’s business model includes software-as-a-service and also offe...

Trading revenue likely to rise in coming quarters. Although big banks have struggled as fears of lower interest rates indicate a slower economy and slower lending activity, some analysts are seeing potential upside ahead. In a research note, Wolfe Research upgraded big banks likeJPMorgan Chase (JPM),Citigroup (C) andBank of America (BAC), citing the likelihood to surprise investors with higher trading revenue in the coming quarters, “if activity levels hold steady.” Additionally, lower funding costs for banks from the decline in interest rates could increase their profitability, even ...

Bet in 50 percent drop in shares by October.On Friday before the long weekend, over 14,400 contracts traded on the October $10 put options onAmarin Corporation (AMRN). With a prior open interest of just 123 contracts, the trade saw a surge in volume over 116-fold! With a current share price around $15 per share, the $10 strike price is a bet on shares dropping by at least as much as one-third in the next 45 days. Amarin is a pharmaceutical company that engages in the development of therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.Action to take: The bet against shares in such a ...

CEO, CIO, CFO, and head of manufacturing, pick up shares. On Thursday, August 29th, Michael McClaflin, CIO atFlexsteel Industries (FLXS)picked up 2,350 shares. The total price came to just under $32,000, and represents his first purchase of shares at the company. He was joined by Carl Hayden, vice president of manufacturing, who bought 2,000 shares, also starting a stake at the company and paying $27,000 to do so. CFO Marcus Hamilton also joined in, buying 2,300 shares and increasing his stake by 26 percent. Last but not least, CEO Jerald Dittmer bought 5,000 shares, at a cost just un...

Senior Vice President makes six-figure buy.On Thursday, August 29th, Geoff Tanner bought 1,000 shares ofJM Smucker Company (SJM), where he serves as a senior vice president. By picking up shares around $103, his total cost to pick up those shares was $103,000. The buy increases his stake by 17 percent, leaving him with just under 14,400 shares. This is the first insider buy at the company this year, following some insider sales at higher prices in the past few months. The JM Smucker Company is a consumer brands giant, known for preserves, peanut butter under the Jif brand, Folgers coffee...