Taste Success

20+ years in the markets. Investing, trading, income generation. My thoughts, not financial advice.

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82% response rate in advanced pancreatic cancer — without chemo: $TNGX just posted Phase 1/2 data showing 88% progression-free at 9 months across 22 patients. Friday options followed: 1,888 calls, 130% above normal. Phase 3 launches 1H 2027. Somebody wants in early.

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A 30% call-volume spike hit $CVX Friday — 54,082 contracts — the same week BofA raised its target to $252. Chevron is also betting $13.8B on Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale and eyeing Iraq's West Qurna 2. Who's building the position?

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$DXC popped 10% this week on a Reuters report it is in advanced talks to sell its insurance unit to Eldridge for $2.4B. Stifel says the sale could tee up a take-private. This morning $DXC hit the unusually-active options list again. Who is front-running the next headline?

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Phase 3 data moved $MLTX Thursday; Wednesday the options tape lit up: 4,294 calls, 274% above normal. Its nanobody BLA for hidradenitis suppurativa went to the FDA Sept 30 — acceptance decision lands in weeks. HC Wainwright targets $50. Is the tape front-running the verdict?

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FDA rejected its NDA last November. Yesterday it accepted $BHVN's refiled Vyglxia NDA — and 6,072 calls traded Thursday, 155% above normal volume. Stock ripped 25% to $14.69, its best day in 3 years. Decision date: Q1 2027. Comeback story, or rejection No.2 loading?

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BULL vs BEAR: $MRNA — BULL: UBS calls the melanoma data solid — the vaccine cut recurrence risk 42% in a 1,100-pt trial, full results hit Madrid Saturday. BEAR: -18% today, TD Cowen says it missed elevated expectations, $90 target implies 50%+ downside. Sell-the-news or verdict?

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21,178 calls hit $CODI Thursday — 2,266% above the normal 895-call pace — while the stock sat flat at $10.32. Ladenburg just started coverage at Buy with a $17 target, and Compass keeps selling assets to cut its $1.84B debt load. The options desk is yelling. Who's listening?

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$AMPL just tagged a 52-week high at $16.23 — and the Street keeps chasing: BTIG $13→$17, Piper $13→$18, BofA $14→$16.50 in the last month alone. The bet: AI experimentation plus the Statsig deal reaccelerates ARR growth. Momentum is here — is the growth?

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Pentagon just locked in 850 F-35s — and $LMT popped 4% with options lighting up before the bell. FY26 EPS view raised to $30.35–$30.75 from $29.95–$30.65. Defense stocks drift until they don't — did anyone see this one coming?

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7,000 $CCB calls traded Wednesday — 5,085% above the normal 135. Coastal Financial is a battered bank facing a December class-action deadline. Somebody just went massively long anyway. Bounce bet, or something else?

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No headlines, no earnings until Nov 4 — yet 51,620 $CVS calls just traded, 203% above normal volume. Somebody is paying up for leverage on a pharmacy-and-insurance giant drifting under $94. What's the clock ticking toward?

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BULL vs BEAR: $CMG — BULL: Deutsche Bank holds Buy ($45), price hikes at ~20% of locations offsetting soft traffic. BEAR: TD Cowen cut to Hold ($32): weak October start, Q4 comps ~1% vs 3.2% Street. Down ~5% today, near a 3-yr low. Oct 28 earnings. Pick a side.

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Somebody just turned a sleepy Memphis bank into a lottery ticket: 100,171 $FHN calls Wednesday — 1,415% above normal volume. Earnings beat already came and went. What's the follow-through bet?

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@miscomputate @MorganStanley Do research on Morgan Stanley’s relationship to Quan and you’ll understand why.

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Strange pairing on $UBER today: 21,000 of the $58 puts expiring Nov 13 traded — ~99x their prior open interest — while 24,000 of the $115 calls for Jan 2028 also crossed. Stock at $68.17, near its Oct 1 low, earnings Nov 4. Selling fear to fund a 15-month moonshot?

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Brazil's presidential runoff is Sunday — and $XP, the country's biggest brokerage platform, is up ~57% in a month ($20.01→$31.34). Tuesday traders bought 75,767 calls, 297% above normal volume, ahead of the vote. JPMorgan's at $38. Has the election already been priced in?

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81% above normal: 27,134 $HAL calls traded Monday — before the Q3 beat ($0.60 vs $0.58, $5.70B revenue). International revenue +9% to $3.5B while North America sagged. Who was expecting the beat?

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Tuesday's tape made no sense: $GE beat EPS by $0.24 ($2.25 vs $2.01), revenue $13.29B vs $12.88B — and the stock fell 3.8%. Yet traders bought 20,557 calls, 38% above normal. So is the selloff the gift or the warning?

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BULL vs BEAR: $AAPL — 25 of 43 analysts still rate it Buy; Melius holds $370; the foldable Duo lands Friday with an 82-day wait. But Loop just cut to Hold ($330): 13M iPhone cuts won't come back, and 36x forward earnings is a 5-year valuation high. Duo or dud — your call.

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Scotch tape to server racks: $MMM saw 24,152 calls Tuesday — 159% above normal — after an EPS beat ($2.50 vs $2.38), guidance raised a 3rd straight quarter ($9.10–$9.15), plus an Amazon data-center deal with a $521M warrant. Who had the Post-it maker as the AI trade?