Hey,
Charles here
Andrew’s fingerprint scanner lit up twice this week, and the two names couldn’t be more different.
One makes real, physical stuff you can hold in your hands.
The other lives entirely in the digital world. One is riding momentum higher while the other keeps getting dragged lower.
But both showed up on the scanner for the same reason: unusual long-term option activity that caught Andrew’s eye.
The question is whether either of them is a trade worth making.
Here’s Andrew’s breakdown.
One to Love: Things you can drop on your foot
AI 2.0 is still on my mind as I check my scanner for new stocks, in particular companies that make things. Right now oil stocks are pulling back since the EPA announced it’s eliminating CO2 from the Clean Air Act. My question is how that will affect other companies that make things. And to my surprise, the maker of all those Amazon.com (AMZN) boxes just popped up.
My Fingerprint Scanner looks for momentum and a relative pickup in long-term option volume. The old Johnson Smurfit is now Smurfit Westrock (SW). It’s not widely traded, but it’s showing some crazy momentum lately. The long-term option volume is low but growing, and that’s normal for a higher-dividend-paying stock. If I buy calls, I don’t get the dividend unless I exercise the call, so SW is more of an income play.
The stock has increased its dividend and pays $1.88 a year, or a 3.5% yield.
1 year SW
AMZN and Walmart (WMT) will battle over customers, but the boxes will still ship. Companies like SW got worked on the tariff uncertainty but are bouncing strong in 2026. Keep an eye on these companies in 2026.
One to Hate: Verisign
My scanner is kicking again and I’m loving it.
Color me surprised, but stocks with digital footprints are still getting wrecked. The fortress of .com registration, Verisign (VRSN), is down 30% from its highs this year. Back then I guess AI would make VRSN a tower of strength, and now AI will kill it. The earnings miss didn’t help either.
Of the stocks that list LEAPS, 92 are near a 52-week low. Many or most of them are quality companies with high multiples, lots of cash, and a digital or software footprint. I don’t know how AI will kill VRSN, but the earnings multiple is down into the mid-20s. That’s the forward value of earnings relative to the stock price. VRSN would take 24 years of earnings to equal the current market capitalization.
VRSN 1 Year Chart
I think this is the story around AI. Yes, there are amazing things to come. But when the stocks are priced for perfection, having a 20-40% pullback from very high values is reasonable in my view. It’s also reasonable to wait for this one to drift lower as the market sorts it out. $200 is too close not to hit at this point.
To Your Trading Success,
AG
So there you have it: A boring, dividend-paying box company quietly gaining steam, and a once-untouchable internet infrastructure name that can’t find a floor.
Andrew sees opportunity on both sides, but the setups couldn’t be more different.
One’s an income story riding a tariff bounce, the other’s a high-multiple stock still searching for a bottom near $200.
The real question is: will either form the base trade for the Ticker Highlight Show Premium on Monday morning?
Join the Ticker Highlight Show Premium before Monday at 10:30 AM ET to find out.
See you there,
Charles Delvalle
Managing Editor, Option Pit