For today i will be talking about blocktrade and its profitable oportunities.
If you don’t know what a block trade is or have never
used block trades as part of your trading strategy,
you may be missing out on some profitable
opportunities.
On Thursday, June 29 at 5:00 p.m. ET, Benzinga Pro
will be hosting its latest installment in a series of 30-
minute educational webinars instructing traders on
how to get that critical edge over the rest of the
market. In this week’s webinar, Benzinga Sr.
Newsdesk Analyst Brent Slava will be discussing how
traders can interpret and use block trades.
Benzinga Pro issues real-time news alerts for
subscribers every time the newsdesk spots unusual
trading activity, but traders have to know what to do
and they have to act fast.
"Block trades are a great way to gauge near-term
intraday interest in a stock," Slava says. "While it can
be hard to determine if a block trade will be positive
or negative for investors of a stock, the fact of a
block trade can at the least show traders' attention
on a name."
WHAT IS A BLOCKTRADE?
Block trades are single, large trade orders, typically
placed by institutional investors. Single trades of
Nasdaq- and NYSE-listed stocks that are at least
10,000 shares are typically considered to qualify as
block trades. Since only institutional and extremely
wealthy investors can afford to make trades this
size, block trades are typically seen as “smart
money” trades.
For example, back in May, Spirit Realty Capital Inc
(NEW) (NYSE: SRC ) shares tanked more than 24
percent to as low as $6.48 after a disappointing first-
quarter earnings report. However, Benzinga Pro
reported a series of block trades of at least 450,000
shares each the following morning starting at a price
of $6.90.
The buying triggered a three-day rebound from $6.90
to $7.56, represented a 9.5 percent gain for traders
that quickly identified the first block trade as a
buying opportunity. Of course, they first had to know
what to look for and how to play it.