Big bet hotel chain will rally into 2020.The hospitality industry has faced some significant headwinds in recent years, but that’s not stopping one trader from betting on a rally inHost Hotels & Resorts (HST). On Wednesday, over 10,500 contracts of the January 2020 $20 calls on shares traded hands. That represents a 31-fold increase in volume on the contract. With shares around $18, the move is a bet that shares will move at least 10 percent higher by the time the option expires in mid-January. Host Hotels owns high-end luxury brands, under such names as Marriott, Hyatt, Fairmont, Ri...

Activist investor adds $2 million to existing stake. On Tuesday, activist investor Ron Perelman revealed the additional purchase of 1.2 million shares in a company he already owns more than 10 percent of,vTv Therapeutics (VTVT). Perelman now owns over 20.2 million shares of the company. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.65, but shares currently trade around $1.45, so anyone looking to piggyback on the billionaire investor can get a bargain here. The company may not be for all investors, however. With only an $80 million market cap, shares will be volatile. And vTv is...

Majority owner and manager adds to stake.On Monday, iStar, the majority owner ofSafehold (SAFE), added to their stake. As the majority owner of the company already, and the manager of Safehold, the move is an indication that shares of the company remain undervalued. iStar picked up an additional 15,000 shares, representing a cost of about $468,000. This buy leaves iStar with over 20.6 million shares of Safehold. The buys occurred with shares at a 52-week high, another unusual sign but another vote of confidence in shares heading even higher. Safehold is a unique company. It provides g...

Big bet on massive rally in energy company.While the summer is typically a slow season for stocks, one trader is betting on a big move in shares ofHess (HES). With shares currently around $61, there’s been a surge in trading on the January 2020 $80 calls, indicating a 30 percent upside in shares between now and January. Over 16,000 of those contracts traded on Tuesday, about a 20-fold increase in volume for prior trading. Hess is an explorer and producer of oil and natural gas, with over 1,192 million barrels of oil equivalent in reserves.Action to take: With energy prices looking lacklu...

Director buys over $900,000 in shares.Insiders have been a bit more active in the leisure space lately. Besides some of the insider buys we’ve seen in the casino industry, we’re now seeing insiders buy in the leisure travel space. On Wednesday July 3rd, director Randall Weisenburger bought 20,000 shares of the company he sits on the board of,Carnival Corp (CCL). This is a 20 percent increase in his stake, and he paid about $930,000 to make the deal. Weisinburger’s buy comes after a buy from President and CEO Arnold Donald in June, who bought just over 22,000 shares and paid about $1 mill...

Big bearish bet on tech giant in the next month.Shares ofApple (AAPL) sold off Monday on a major downgrade, citing the company’s “fundamental deterioration.” Naturally, some traders saw that as an opportunity to sell shares—at least in the short-term. That explains the 100-fold increase in volume on the August 2nd $185 puts on the company. With shares of Apple trading just under $200, this is a bet on about a 7.5 percent decline between now and expiration in 25 days. Apple is a widely held company, due to its size and success. And while the company has pushed to improve its suite of high...

Big bet on social media company rallying in the next month. Shares of social media companies have underperformed the broad market. Between a slowdown in user growth and privacy concerns, they don’t look like the most attractive investment. Yet shares of these companies are off their recent lows—and at least one trader is betting on a big move higher. Last Friday saw a surge in volume on the July 26th $19 call options onSnapchat (SNAP). With shares trading around $15, that’s a bet on shares rallying another $4 from here, or about another 26 percent. That’s a large percentage move, b...

Major holder adds to stake in blood testing company. Insiders in the health, pharmaceutical, and biotech space continue to buy shares of their beaten-down companies near today’s prices. The latest big buy? At shares of one of the smaller diagnostic plays,OncoCyte Corporation (OCX). Last week, Broadwood Partners LP, which already owns more than 10 percent of shares in the company, added 1 million shares to their stake. At a price of around $2, this represented a $2 million buy. Founded in 2009, OncoCyte works on the development and commercialization of non-invasive, blood-based diag...

Big bet on gold mining company shares moving higher this year. Shares of mining companies can be pretty volatile. If gold prices stop moving higher, the share price on these companies can drop quickly. Yet at least one trader is betting that mining giantAngloGold Ashanti (AU) will trade at least as high as it’s been if not higher by the end of January 2020. On July 3rd, there was a surge in trading on theJanuary 2020 $18 calls. Shares last traded around $17.80, making this option at-the-money. In other words, in a volatile sector of the market, one trader is betting that shares wil...

Major holder adds to stake in beaten-down biotech company. Insiders in the health, pharmaceutical, and biotech space continue to buy shares of their beaten-down companies near today’s prices. The latest big buy? At shares of one of the smaller biotech plays,Dova Pharmaceuticals (DOVA). On July 3rd, the Perceptive Life Sciences Master Fund, which already owns more than 10 percent of shares and has a seat on the board of directors, added to their stake. The fund bought 20,541 shares, paying just under $300,000. But this isn’t their first buy with this company. They also bought shares...