Bulls triple their money in $MPC

Option traders drilled for big profits in Marathon Petroleum today.

Just yesterday, Investitute’s market scanners found that 3,400 May $74.50 calls were purchased from $0.65 to $0.78 with shares at $70.47. This was clearly a new position, as open interest in the strike was a mere 26 contracts before that session began.

Those calls traded for $2.29 today, 3 times their purchase price. The stock rose 6.7% in the same time period, illustrating the kind of leverage that can be achieved with options.

Long calls lock in the price where a stock can be purchased, gaining with a rally and providing leverage to the underlying shares. The contracts can quickly lose value if the stock stalls or pulls back but also carry less risk than owning the shares themselves.

MPC was up 3.98% to $75.80 today. The energy company rebounded after selling off on the news of an agreement to acquire Andeavor in a merger pact.