Call buyers find gains in $SPRT

Support.com, Inc. (SPRT) traded up to a new multi-year-high this session, handing fast profits to bullish option positions opened this week.

On Aug. 24, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity programs detected the the purchase 12,000 September $15 calls for $1.35 to $2.90 with shares at $11.78. Open interest in the contract before the trade occurred was just 5,925, showing that this was a new position.

And then the next day on Aug. 25, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity programs detected the the purchase 2,000 September $19 calls as part of a bullish spread for $1.52 to $2.22 with shares at $12.90. Open interest in the contract before the trade occurred was just 326, showing that this too was a new position.

Those calls each respectively traded for up to $44.05 and $41.00 today, at least 15 and 18 times their purchase prices. The stock rose y as much as 402.46% in the same time frame, showing how quickly options can far outpace gains in 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.

SPRT was up 33.65% to close at $26.33 after trading as high as $59.69 earlier in the session.