Is something developing behind the scenes at Sherwin-Williams (SHW)? Options-trading activity would seem to suggest as much. On Friday, we saw unusual put buying at the April 65 put, as an investor bought 10,000 of these near-the-money contracts, perhaps preparing for anticipated downside in the shares.

Continue reading Strange Things Afoot at Sherwin-Williams

Strange Things Afoot at Sherwin-Williams originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 43% Gain to Build a Position in KB Homes

Chasing Value: 43% Gain to Build a Position in KB Homes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bearish Options Action in Tyco (TYC)

Bearish Options Action in Tyco (TYC) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Abercrombie (ANF) Looking Rangebound?

Abercrombie (ANF) Looking Rangebound? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bears Buy Puts in UAL Corp. (UAUA)

Bears Buy Puts in UAL Corp. (UAUA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Intel Options Active Ahead of Earnings

Intel Options Active Ahead of Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Option traders expecting limited movement in Dell (DELL)

Option traders expecting limited movement in Dell (DELL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Still running naked on Wall Street

Serious Money: Still running naked on Wall Street originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Our latest Focus Stock is a bullish play on Dell Computer (NASDAQ: DELL)," says Chris Johnson, who uses both a technical and contrarian-based approach in his Insightful Investor.

"Dell Computer is one of the largest retail computer manufactures in the world. The company supplies businesses and consumers with PC computers, printers, and other peripherals.

"For years, we've watched Michael Dell's company languish, as a slowdown in PC demand combined with a saturation of the PC market caused DELL shares to fall more than 50%. Now, after spending the past four months trading around the 20 mark, the stock may be ready to make a short-term run.

"From a technical perspective, the stock has recently built a bottom around the 20 level. This comes after bouncing from the lows near 18, which also represents the lows during the bear market started in 2000.

Continue reading Technical trader targets Dell (DELL)

Technical trader targets Dell (DELL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 May 2008 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lenny Dykstra, stock market expert?

Lenny Dykstra, stock market expert? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When I saw the headlines Energizer (NYSE: ENR) buys Playtex (NYSE: PYX), I immediately thought that the late night talk shows are going to have fun with this one. I could see Saturday Night Live writers really putting together an interesting skit involving a very moody bunny. But back to the news...

Energizer made an offer to buy Playtex, and shares of Playtex rose $2.79 (15.9%) to close at $17.97. But then I was curious to look at the option trading on Playtex. Insider trading has been running rampant recently and it is very easy to spot in the options market.

If you look at the option volume on the August 15 Calls (PYX HC) there is an interesting history. There were no options traded for three weeks, then on Tuesday, 51 traded. That is not unusual. Then on Wednesday, there were 5,488 options traded for a high price of $1.00 a piece. That is unusual. Today there were 4,649 options traded for a more than $2.95 a piece. This is just too good of timing to be coincidental. I mean I believe in good luck as much as the next guy, but this certainly appears that someone managed to beat the Friday the 13th curse today.

Now there is a small chance that when the Playtex president DeFeo canceled his speaking engagement on Wednesday, some observers got wind of something as the shares jumped mid-day; but it appears someone got wind that the buyout was coming and decided to make a little bet.

That bet proved to be profitable as $548,800 invested turned into $1,618,960 over the course of three days. Tripling your money over the course of three days is not a bad investment and the way the SEC has been laxly enforcing stuff recently, maybe they will get away with it.

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Do you have any deadwood in your portfolio? Check out the 18 Warning Signs That Tell You To Dump A Stock.

Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

Insider activity keeps going and going and going... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

International Securities Exchange Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ISE) is the top speculative play for 2007 from Bernie Schaeffer, technical trading expert and editor of The Option Advisor. He explains, "ISE is an electronic exchange and the world's largest trading venue for equity options (in terms of volume traded).

"About two years ago, the ISE set a precedent when it became the first U.S. options exchange to debut for public trading. ISE has appeared in the earnings confessional seven times since its trading debut in early 2005. On all of those occasions, the firm has either matched or exceeded Wall Street's earnings expectations.

"Since it appeared on the scene, the stock's path of least resistance has pointed higher, although options players remain wedded to the bearish camp. If the stock continues to advance upon new-high territory, a short-covering situation could be in the offing, eliciting an additional source of buying power.

"Analysts are also skeptical; the most recent Zacks information finds that 10 of the 11 brokerages following the stock have named it a 'hold,' leaving one 'strong sell' rating and nary a 'buy' to be found. The skepticism is palpable on this one, making it a solid contrarian play as 2007 kicks off."

To see Bernie's top conservative investment idea for 2007, click here.

Top Picks 2007: Option Advisor speculates on options exchange originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Dec 2006 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is the favorite conservative investment for 2007 from Bernie Schaeffer, editor of The Option Advisor. He notes, "Lennar, one of the largest homebuilding firms in the U.S., is built on a very solid foundation.

"For more than 20 quarters running, the stock has exceeded or matched analysts' per-share earnings expectations. Despite negative earnings revisions and poor housing statistics during the past few months, homebuilding stocks have actually rallied from their July 2006 lows.

"For its part, LEN is back up near six-month highs. It has been a relative-strength leader when compared to its peers in the outperforming ISE Homebuilders Index. Meanwhile, options players are firmly entrenched in the bearish camp. And, nearly 9% of the equity's float has been sold short.

"Analysts are still leery of LEN, as evidenced by the latest Zacks data. Of the 12 brokerage firms ranking the shares, five have awarded a 'hold' rating while two list the stock as a 'strong sell.' A continued upward drive in the shares could spur some upgrade activity, drawing positive attention toward the equity."

To see Bernie's favorite speculative idea for 2007, click here.

Top Picks 2007: Schaeffer sees solid foundation under Lennar originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Since posting Keep your eye on Black & Decker last week I have had some discussion among other investors and business associates on-line and off about Black & Decker (BDK). There seems to be a general consensus that it is a solid company with strong fundamentals that has cyclical tendencies. This will be weighing on future earnings and no doubt is reflected in the decline of the stock price and the recent earnings report.

I do not own the stock but have been watching it for several months. It came to my attention through reading various business publications and I thought there was some merit to the positive commentary so I put it on my watch-list $25 dollars ago.

On rare occasion I trade options, (puts or calls), and usually have at least one option outstanding. In my original post I had concluded that BDK may be very close to fair value from all the data I had examined. I was thinking out loud that I may want it $10 cheaper seeking a deep value perhaps around $60 per share so I reviewed CBOE cboe.com/delayedquote/QuoteTable.aspx to get a look at options opportunities.

Since I might be willing to buy shares at $60, could I get paid to do so by selling naked puts (TRADING NAKED PUTS CAN BE VERY HIGH RISK!!) at that strike price. Well two things I learned. First, even with the large 25% decline in stock price of the past few months there was not much money in these options. The second is that there is very little "open interest" at all in doing this trade. There was opportunity at $65, $70 and up, but almost none at $55 & $60. To me this indicates that consensus has developed in the options picture supporting my thesis that we may be at fair value for BDK in the $65 to $70 range in the current market... and that I should keep tracking it for that possible deep value.

BTW, Black & Decker is not a must own stock, nothing is. So I can wait forever, buy something of better value, or do nothing. Patience absolutely pays off.

"You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing." -Warren Buffett

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for Design and Research of an Architecture & Planning firm.

Black & Decker follow-up -- a few more thoughts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.