$CMCSA bulls are streaming big gains

Option traders cashed in big profits on upside positions in Comcast (CMCSA) today.

On Dec. 11, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity Service flagged the purchase of 5,000 Weekly $44 calls expiring today in one print for $0.18 with shares at $42.25. This was clearly fresh buying, as volume was more well above the strike’s open interest of 764 contracts at that time.

Those calls have sold for $1.10 this morning, more than 6 times their purchase price. The stock rose 6.77% 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.

CMCSA jumped to $45.22 this morning and was last up by 0.022% trading at $44.98. The cable giant is reportedly in discussions to acquire TV service Xumo according to the Wall Street Journal.