$FB bulls quadruple money

Option traders continue to rack up large gains on upside positions in Facebook.

On Dec. 7, Investitute’s market scanners identified the purchase of,300 February $145 calls for $6.50 to $7.15 with shares at $139.93. This was clearly fresh buying, as volume was far above the strike’s open interest of 3,326 contracts before that session began. Investitute co-founder Pete Najarian cited the unusual activity at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded for as much as $26.01 today, 4 times their initial purchase price. The stock rose 22.07% in the same time period, illustrating how options can far outperform their underlying shares. It is the second winning trade in the name posted on Investitute in less than a week.

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.

FB jumped to $172.47 this morning before pulled back to close at $170.49, off 0.39% on the session. The social network beat quarterly expectations and reported strong user growth after the market closed on Jan. 30.