$AAPL bulls quadruple money intraday

Option traders are logging big very quick profits on upside positions opened in Apple (AAPL) only a few hours ago.

Just this morning, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity Service detected the purchase of 16,000 Weekly $270 calls, expiring this Thursday, Apr. 9, for $0.28 to $0.38 with shares at $249.81. This was clearly fresh buying, as open interest in the strike was only 3,887 contracts before the activity appeared.

Those calls traded for as much as $1.82 just before today’s closing bell, at least 4.5 times purchase prices. The stock rose 5.28% at the same time, underscoring how quickly options can far outperform 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.

AAPL closed up by 8.72% to $262.47 today. The iPhone maker’s shares rebounded sharply today, testing the lows of its Mar. 9 session.