Baidu (BIDU) Offering Possible 28.21% Return Over the Next 16 Calendar Days

Baidu's most recent trend suggests a bearish bias. One trading opportunity on Baidu is a Bear Call Spread using a strike $245.00 short call and a strike $250.00 long call offers a potential 28.21% return on risk over the next 16 calendar days. Maximum profit would be generated if the Bear Call Spread were to expire worthless, which would occur if the stock were below $245.00 by expiration. The full premium credit of $1.10 would be kept by the premium seller. The risk of $3.90 would be incurred if the stock rose above the $250.00 long call strike price.

The 5-day moving average is moving down which suggests that the short-term momentum for Baidu is bearish and the probability of a decline in share price is higher if the stock starts trending.

The 20-day moving average is moving down which suggests that the medium-term momentum for Baidu is bearish.

The RSI indicator is at 59.26 level which suggests that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold at this time.

To learn how to execute such a strategy while accounting for risk and reward in the context of smart portfolio management, and see how to trade live with a successful professional trader, view more here

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LATEST NEWS for Baidu

Baidu EV Business Could Trigger Breakout
Mon, 01 Feb 2021 15:19:51 +0000
The autonomous driving initiative is expected to tap into a rapidly-growing market worth at least $12.5 billion.

Understanding Baidu's Unusual Options Activity
Mon, 01 Feb 2021 14:52:42 +0000
Shares of Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) saw some unusual options activity on Monday. Following the unusual option alert, the stock price moved up to $239.72. Sentiment: BULLISH Option Type: SWEEP Trade Type: CALL Expiration Date: 2021-03-19 Strike Price: $250.00 Volume: 170 Open Interest: 3054 Three Signs Of Unusual Options Activity One way options market activity can be considered unusual is when volume is exceptionally higher than its historical average. The volume of options activity refers to the number of contracts traded over a given time period. Open interest is the number of unsettled contracts that have been traded but not yet closed by either counterparty. In other words, open interest represents the quantity of contracts that individual parties have written but not yet found a counterparty for (i.e. a buyer finding a seller, or a seller finding a buyer). The trading of a contract with an expiration date in the distant future is another sign of unusual activity. Generally, additional time until a contract expires increases the potential for it to reach its strike price and grow its time value. Time value is important in this context because it represents the difference between the strike price and the value of the underlying asset. Contracts that are “out of the money” are also indicative of unusual options activity. “Out of the money” contracts occur when the underlying price is under the strike price on a call option, or above the strike price on a put option. These trades are made with the expectation that the value of the underlying asset is going to change dramatically in the future, and buyers and sellers will benefit from a greater profit margin. Bullish And Bearish Sentiments Options are “bullish” when a call is purchased at/near ask price or a put is sold at/near bid price. Options are “bearish” when a call is sold at/near bid price or a put is bought at/near ask price. These observations are made without knowing the investor's true intent by purchasing these options contracts. The activity is suggestive of these strategies, but an observer cannot be sure if a bettor is playing the contract outright or if the options bettor is hedging a large underlying position in common stock. For the latter case, bullish options activity may be less meaningful than the exposure a large investor has on their short position in common stock. Using These Options Strategies Unusual options activity is an advantageous strategy that may greatly reward an investor if they are highly skilled, but for the less experienced trader, it should remain as another tool to make an educated investment decision while taking other observations into account. For more information to understand options alerts, visit https://pro.benzinga.help/en/articles/1769505-how-do-i-understand-options-alerts See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaUnderstanding Express's Unusual Options ActivityUnderstanding Apple's Unusual Options Activity© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Ex-Googler Turns Virtual Gifts Into a $61 Billion Business
Mon, 01 Feb 2021 14:05:47 +0000
(Bloomberg) — In China’s popular online-streaming industry, virtual gift-giving is big. You can send your favorite live performer anything from a rose for 5 yuan (80 cents) to a space rocket for 500 yuan.The present is just a symbol, but the money is real — and that’s what’s made Kuaishou Technology so successful.The ByteDance Ltd. rival has become the biggest live-streaming platform for virtual gifts, with more paying monthly users than any other in the world. The firm, which takes a cut of the tips fans give to performers, raised $5.4 billion in Hong Kong in the biggest internet initial public offering since Uber Technologies Inc. in 2019, terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg show.That’s poised to create at least four billionaires with a combined fortune valued at $15 billion, based on the ownership disclosed in Kuaishou’s prospectus. Co-founders Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao will each be worth more than $5.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.Kuaishou, which means “fast hand,” is one of China’s biggest internet success stories of the past decade, part of a generation of startups that thrived with backing from Tencent Holdings Ltd. Along with TikTok parent ByteDance, the outfit pioneered the live-streaming and bite-sized video format that’s since been adopted around the world by the likes of Facebook Inc.“The key resource of the internet is attention,” Su wrote in Kuaishou’s official biography in 2019. “It can be focused on large numbers of people like the sunlight, rather than a spotlight just on a certain group of people. That’s the simple logic behind Kuaishou.”Su, a native of China’s central Hunan province, studied computer programming at the prestigious Tsinghua University before joining Google in Beijing in 2006. There, he earned about $23,000 annually, eight times the country’s average salary back then. While he said he was “extremely happy,” a stay in Silicon Valley inspired him to start his own business, according to Kuaishou’s biography.The 38-year-old quit Google during the global financial crisis to start his own video-advertising venture, which didn’t come to fruition. After a short stint with Baidu Inc., he got acquainted with Cheng in 2011 and they soon decided to pair up. In 2013, the duo transformed the Kuaishou app from a GIF-maker to the social-video platform it is today, initially gaining popularity with its videos of life in rural China.With the rise of ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese twin app of TikTok, Kuaishou broadened its appeal, luring influencers backed by talent agencies and pop stars like Taiwan’s Jay Chou. Along the way, it sped up monetization by creating ad slots and in-app stores for brands and merchants.While virtual gift purchases are still its bread and butter — they make up almost two-thirds of its revenue — the company is delving deeper into higher-margin businesses like e-commerce and online gaming. Its sales rose almost 50% to 40.7 billion yuan in the first nine months of last year, according to the IPO prospectus.Viewers spend an average of almost 90 minutes on Kuaishou every day, and about a quarter of monthly users churn out content as well. While that robust engagement differentiates Kuaishou from rival live-streaming platforms such as Joyy Inc. and Momo Inc., the recent launch of a short-video feed by Tencent’s super-app WeChat has brought competition to another level.Kuaishou’s debut could also be overshadowed by the potential IPO of its far larger rival, ByteDance, whose 600 million Douyin daily users are more than double Kuaishou’s. Last valued at $180 billion, the world’s largest startup was said to be exploring a listing of some of its businesses in Hong Kong as the U.S. last year attempted to ban TikTok and force a sale of the app on national-security concerns.“Kuaishou has overhauled its product and become more similar to Douyin,” said Citic Securities Co. analyst Wang Guanran in a Jan. 26 note. “The two will face direct competition with each other in the future.”Kuaishou isn’t immune to geo-political tensions either. While Su told investors on a Jan. 25 call that non-Chinese markets have the potential to become a big earnings driver, its platforms including Kwai and Snack Video are banned in India along with hundreds of Chinese apps as New Delhi and Beijing clash over border disputes. In the U.S., its TikTok-style Zynn service has gained little traction since launching last May.The company will also have to deal with a recent crackdown on live-streaming. China said in November it would require performers and gift givers to register with their real names, banned minors from tipping and asked the platforms to limit the value of virtual presents.Still, investors have been rushing to get a piece of the first short-video platform that will start trading Feb. 5. The IPO priced at the top end of its marketed range, and the retail portion was the most subscribed ever, according to IFR, as the city’s market for new listings has been on fire lately. Some shares changed hands at more than double the listing price of HK$115 in gray-market trading on Monday, people with knowledge of the matter said.The enthusiasm last year boosted the fortunes of top executives including those at Nongfu Spring Co.’s Zhong Shanshan — now Asia’s richest person — and Blue Moon Group Holdings Ltd.’s Pan Dong.The Kuaishou founder is cautious about the power he’s amassed. In the company’s biography, Su compared his platform’s ability to control internet attention and traffic with the One Ring from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.“When you put on the ring, you’ll feel extremely powerful,” he wrote. “But in fact, it’s the ring and the power that are controlling you.”(Updates with gray-market trading in 16th paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Earnings Deliverability Is Key, Stonehorn Global Partner Le Cornu Says
Mon, 01 Feb 2021 10:42:34 +0000
Feb.01 — Sam Le Cornu, co-founder and chief executive officer at Stonehorn Global Partners, says corporate earnings deliverability is key. He speaks with Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.”

Billionaire Li Shufu Lays Groundwork for His Next Big Move
Mon, 01 Feb 2021 04:02:01 +0000
(Bloomberg) — Chinese billionaire Li Shufu shook up the car industry with an eye-catching run of deals among traditional, European automakers that made his Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. a global force to be reckoned with. Now he’s training his sights on Big Tech.In the space of less than a month, Geely has forged major collaboration pacts with companies from search engine heavyweight Baidu Inc. to Apple Inc.’s Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd. Last Friday saw another, this time with electric-car upstart Faraday Future. The pair signed an agreement to cooperate on technology and engineering support.It may seem a bit haphazard but there’s logic behind Li’s dealings. Conventional automakers like Geely, one of China’s biggest manufacturers, are under threat. With governments around the world pledging to ban the sale of new gasoline vehicles within decades, they must adapt. Embracing greener technology is a must, as is gaining a better footing in the new areas of intelligent and connected mobility.“Geely’s moves are intelligent,” said Bill Russo, the founder and chief executive officer of advisory firm Automobility. “Geely is no longer just an OEM, they’re a solutions provider,” he said, referring to the commonly used term for companies that just manufacture something.Li has long championed partnerships and consolidation as a way for automakers to pool resources for initiatives like self-driving cars and electrification. He’s successfully built a global carmaking empire over the past three decades, becoming Daimler AG’s largest shareholder and snapping up Volvo in 2010, as well as amassing stakes in European legacy brands such as Lotus and lower-end players like Malaysia’s Proton.One of the expressions Li likes to describe his vision for Geely is the “vertical and horizontal alliance,” a reference to a political idiom used during the Warring States period of China’s history. It recommends collaboration among companies in the same supply chain as well as partnering with businesses that also operate as competitors.“In an era of great change, the reason we are able to advance is the innovative power of self-subversion, the willpower to ride the wind and the waves and the fighting power to move forward courageously,” Li said in a New Year letter posted on the company’s WeChat account. This is the “fusion power of vertical and horizontal integration.”As part of its cooperation agreements, Geely will collaborate with Foxconn, Baidu and Faraday Future on its open-source platform to help build electric cars. With Tencent, it will jointly develop smart-driving cockpits, autonomous technology and other science to help digitize all aspects of car production.Russo sees Foxconn as an electronics manufacturing supplier to Geely, while Baidu can help Geely with the critical integration skills needed to make smart, connected devices. The pact with Tencent creates a layer on top that runs the applications-based services the vehicles are using.“It’s smart to think about yourself as a company and the kind of company you want to become,” he said.Geely isn’t the only car company restyling itself in this way. As the auto industry weans itself off fossil fuel and embraces more environmentally-friendly technologies, how it makes money is changing. More profit will come from creating and supplying the “brains” behind cars than from beating out a metal shell in which that nerve center can reside. The margins in that business have been shrinking for years, eaten away by rising competition and advances in factory automation.The past few months have seen a smattering of similar announcements, from Hyundai Motor Co. confirming and then backing away from a statement saying it’s in talks with Apple Inc. to Foxconn signing a manufacturing deal with embattled Chinese electric-vehicle startup Byton Ltd.Other technology companies seeking to expand into the autonomous driving space have sought partnerships too. Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving unit Waymo has worked with Chrysler, while Amazon.com Inc. has tapped Rivian Automotive Inc. for cooperation over delivery vans.The joint statements are almost uniformly light on particulars and rarely contain information about any financial terms. While the tie-ups and cooperation agreements may look neat on paper, many uncertainties remain, according to Haitong International Securities Co. analyst Shi Ji.“The details are unclear, such as what technology each party is going to provide and who is going to lead the projects,” Shi said. “We’re not sure how much Geely can learn or how long it may take before these partners turn to other automakers that may have a better understanding of car manufacturing.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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