Bulls win fast payoff in $LVS

It took less than two hours for option traders to double their money in Las Vegas Sands today.

Less than 15 minutes after the opening bell, Investitute’s market scanners showed that 1,250 Weekly $52.50 calls expiring this Friday were purchased for $0.24 to $0.44 with shares at $51.89. These were clearly new positions, as open interest in the strike was only 223 contracts before the session began.

Those calls traded for $0.70 about 90 minutes later, twice their average purchase price. The stock rose 1.81% at the same time, illustrating how quickly options can far outpace gains in their underlying shares.

Long calls lock in the price where investors can buy a stock, letting them position for a rally at limited cost with the potential for significant leverage. They carry less risk than owning shares because the most that can be lost is the price of the options no matter how far the stock might fall.

LVS was up 3.24% today to close at $51.96. Bernstein initiated coverage on the name on Nov. 15 with an “outperform” rating and a $65 price target as part of a bullish note on several casino operators.