Calls rack up profits in $CRM

Bullish option traders have nearly tripled their money on Salesforce.com (CRM) contracts that expire this afternoon.

On Aug. 8, Our tracking systems found that 4,750 Weekly $145 calls expiring today were bought for $4.80 as part of a bullish roll with shares at $141.80. This was clearly a new position, as open interest in the strike was only 100 contracts before that session began.

Those calls traded for as much as $13.21 today, almost 3 times the purchase price. The stock rose 11.67% 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.

CRM is up 2.48% to $151.92 this afternoon. The cloud-computing company topped earnings estimates and raised its outlook after the market closed yesterday.