Large buy on extremely low-valued put option.It’s been a tough year operationally and for shares ofTesla Motors (TSLA). One trader is even betting on a further drop in shares in the next month, possibly as a result of a broad market decline, but also possibly because of company-specific issues. On Friday, over 40,000 contracts traded on a September 2019 $50 put option, expiring just over one month away. With shares around $220, the $50 strike would trade in-the-money only if shares dropped over 75 percent! With a cost of $0.04, or $4 per contract, the option is a cheap bet on a big perce...

CEO and director buy heavily following bearish report. On Thursday, August 15th, Larry Culp, CEO ofGeneral Electric (GE), bought 252,000 shares, paying just under $2 million. He was joined by director Paula Reynolds. She bought 10,000 shares, paying about $85,300 to do so. GE was one of the most actively-traded companies on Thursday, as a bearish report by analyst Harry Markopoulos (in conjunction with an unnamed hedge fund) stated that as much as $38 billion in wealth at the company may be improperly accounted for. General Electric shares have been out of favor in the past few years ...

Owner Carl Icahn makes $30 million buy.On Tuesday, August 13th, billionaire investor Carl Icahn bought 4,572,521 more shares of a company he already owns more than 10 percent of,Conduent (CNDT). The stake, costing just under $30 million, increased the size of his holdings by about 14 percent to over 36.2 million shares. Icahn has previously bought shares in May, when he picked up over 6 million shares in three separate purchases. One director has bought this year, and no insiders have sold in over one year, when shares traded over 60 percent higher than today. Conduent provides busine...

September calls bet on a rebound in shares.It’s been a tough year forKraft-Heinz (KHC). But at least one trader is betting that the company’s post-earnings drop will see a bounce within the coming weeks. On Tuesday, over 12,600 contracts traded on a September $27.50 call option, a nine-fold surge in volume. With 37 days to go, it’s a bet that shares will rally about $1.20 from their current price of about $26.30, or about 4.6 percent. Kraft-Heinz, the branded food giant, has written off over $16 billion in value year to date, mostly reflecting that it overpaid to merge the two companies ...

Director makes $2 million buy.On Thursday, August 8th, Mellody Hobson, a director atJPMorgan Chase (JPM), bought 18,200 shares, increasing her stake to just over 101,300 shares. The total cost of this latest buy came in at just over $2 million. Hobson has been a repeat buyer of shares this year, buying 19,700 shares back in April. Many insiders at the big bank have been sellers of shares this year, although at higher prices than where shares currently trade. JPMorgan Chase is a global financial powerhouse, with traditional banking, commercial and investment banking, wealth management, an...

Surge of in-the-money call buying.The highest-volume option trade on Friday occurred in an unusual trade based on shares ofGeneral Electric (GE). The January 2020 $6 call options saw a surge in volume. With shares over $9, these options are about 50 percent in-the-money. If GE shares rally, the option should move higher penny-for-penny. If shares drop, they could still have some value at expiration. With the number of unusual options usually focusing on short-term or near-the-money trades, this one stands out as a potential way to play a multi-month rally in shares between now and Januar...

CEO, Directors, continue to pick up shares. On Wednesday, August 7th,Encana (ECA) CEO Douglas Suttles picked up another 6,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company. The $24,000 he spent raised his total stake to over 200,000 shares. This isn’t his first buy this month. He also bought 10,000 shares on August 6th, paying nearly $42,000 as well. And he isn’t alone, as multiple directors have been buyers since the start of the month. Director Fred Fowler picked up 25,000 shares—paying about $100,000—on August 7th. And Director Howard Mayson picked up 5,000 shares on August fist, p...

Big bet on rally in August.Shares ofBeyond Meat (BYND) may rally over 50 percent between now and August 30th. That’s the bet behind the surge in August 30th $250 calls on the plant-based meat alternative company, whose shares currently trade around $160. On Tuesday, over 2,100 of the options traded against an open interest just under 200, for an 11-fold increase in volume.   Last week, the company reported that it quadrupled its sales as part of its earnings report. Despite those numbers, shares lagged on news that the company was issuing more shares, diluting existing shareholde...

Traders bet on share rally in the next month.Many tech names took a steep dive on Monday on trade war fears. But traders were betting those would be short lived. One name that saw multiple options with unusual activity wasNvidia (NVDA), maker of advanced graphic processors. The August 30th $155 call was one of several options on the company that saw unusual trading, with over 1,580 shares trade against an open interest of 114, making for a 14-fold surge in volume. With shares of the company trading around $151 on Monday following a brutal 6 percent decline, the $155 calls would go in-the...

Traders bet earnings drop will be short-lived.On Friday, traders bet on a higher price for payment companySquare (SQ), following a drop on lower than expected earnings. A number of different options traded on unusually high volume, most expecting a bounce within the next week. One big trade was on the August 9th $70 calls, which saw over 3,200 contracts trade against an open interest of 129, for a 25-fold increase in volume. With shares of Square dropping from $80 to under $70 on the one-two punch of an earnings miss and a dropping market on trade war fears, the explosion in volume on tr...