$AAPL bulls quintuple money

Option traders scored huge gains as Apple hit new all-time highs today.

Just yesterday, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 10,000 Weekly $215 calls expiring on Aug. 24 for $0.83 to $1.47 with shares at $211.68 to $213.03. This was clearly new positioning, as volume was far above the strike’s open interest of 5,861 contracts. Investitute co-founder Jon Najarian cited the unusual activity at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded up to $4.16 today, 5 times their initial purchase price. The stock rose 2.7% at the same time, showing 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 was up 2% to close at $217.58 today. The iPhone maker broke out to a lifetime high of $217.94 earlier in the session.