Bulls triple money in $INTC

Option traders ran up large gains on upside positions in Intel (INTC) today.

On May 28, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 13,000 August $46 calls for $1.39 and $1.40 as part of a bullish spread with shares at $43.57. This was clearly a new position, above open interest in the strike was only 152 contracts before the activity appeared.

Those calls traded for as much as $4.55 today, more than 3 times their purchase prices. The stock rose 15% in the same time period, underscoring how 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.

INTC reached $50.25 this morning but has pulled back to trade at $49.86 this afternoon, off 0.12% on the session. The chip giant rallied last week after reports that McAfee is in talks to go public this year. Intel owns a large stake in the cybersecurity company.