Papa John's International Inc. (PZZA)

*Raising net short exposure Some late morning observations: * With Google and Amazon market beasts -- now both medium sized -- I feel "comfortable" adding to my short hedges. * Added to my Micron , Caterpillar and Coca-Cola shorts. * So weird that t...

Papa John's  was downgraded from "Hold" to "Sell" at Stifel this morning.

My summer golfing pal and arguably the greatest sell-side restaurant analyst in history wrote a Papa John's update that he has given me permission to post: STARBOARD INVESTS $200-250M, INTO PAPA JOHN'S - IS PZZA A BUY OR SELL ? February 5, 2019artic...

* Calling an audible after the stock rises by +$4.85/share this morning I just sold my at $43.30. I plan to repurchase the position under $41 if it falls back after the euphoria surrounding the Starboard investment dies down. Remember, the company s...

* PZZA is indicated +$4/share in early premarket trading Late last week, we added to Papa John's International  . The Wall Street Journal has reported, and the company has confirmed, that Starboard has invested $200 million in PZZA and that Jeffrey ...

Covered and then reshorted Added to my , and shorts (moved to medium-sized from neutral) Bought some SPY puts (maturing at the close) Bought small Sold some (after the run from the low $40s -moved from medium to small) I was a bit over my skiis long...

There has been a number of inquiries about over the last few days - as the chart seems to have some appeal. Fundamentally, the business is improving. If I had to hazard a guess I would say about -5% comps in the fourth quarter, which would be a mate...

My three favorite tech stocks for the near and intermediate term remain , and (my Trade of the Week). My two favorite industrial stocks are and . My favorite financial stock is . My favorite ETF is . My favorite takeover speculations are SQ, TWTR an...

Buying now.

I will be back buying Papa John's today. I originally purchased PZZA and placed the shares on my Best Ideas List at about $38 in mid-August of this year and sold most of the shares above $50 a share. PZZA shares have slipped by more than $10 a share...

I am bidding to buy back my position - though I live under the market for now. More early tomorrow morning on my investment rationale.

I just entered the following bids: * at $15.60 * at $57.25 * at $43.75 * at $138 * at $53.65 * at $47 * at $50.90

For a while I looked stupid selling my Papa John's at around $51-$52 a few months ago. But not so much today after Trian passed on making an investment and the other interested parties were interested in only parts of the company. The shares, which ...

"We're all hurt someplace and we're all looking for a painkiller." -- Katherine, Looking For Mr. Goodbar As I have previously remarked there is an old trading adage that long trading opportunities often occur in stocks that are green in a sea of red...

"Just one more thing." - Lt Columbo   Papa John's had a slight miss as the turnaround in North America sales begins to slowly recover.   The shares (currently trading at $53) will likely get hit tomorrow but the decline will be muted by private equi...

For those that left early yesterday - I posted this last night: Papa John's Pops on Buyout Talk Papa John's  rises by +$7 to $57/share (+13%) on news reported after the close that Trian is an interested buyer. PZZA was placed on my Best Ideas List a...

Papa John's rises by +$7 to $57/share (+13%) on news reported after the close that Trian is an interested buyer. PZZA was placed on my Best Ideas List at under $39 in August, 2018.

I have sold my entire long position at about $51 based on the diminished reward v. risk. I would reestablish the long on weakness.

I placed Papa John's on my Best Ideas Buy List in August at under $39. The shares are now trading +$3 to $49/share on the possible "going private" report by CNBC. Here is my thesis as expressed less than two months ago: Buying A Falling Knife - It's...

CNBC is reporting that John Schnattner, Papa John's founder, is reaching out to private equity companies to buyback PZZA! The shares are gapping higher. I mentioned this possibility as recently as yesterday in this post: Inspire Brands Noshes on Son...

"Music is the soundtrack of life." - Dick Clark After some early buying, stocks closed near their lows today. FANG pulled off a revival led by a robust rise in Amazon and a good move in Google . Chip stocks got slammed again. Autos were bludgeoned.....

* Papa Johns may be the next restaurant stock to be acquired This morning, Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings has announced the acquisition of Sonic .  The proposed deal is being done at about 15.5x 12-month trailing...

Here is a list of the positions I own (long and short) that have been mentioned in my Diary: Longs: puts, large, small, , small, , large, , small, , , small, large, calls, TWTR large, small Shorts: SPY calls, SPY Large, , small, tagends, small, smal...