$DE call prices grow four-fold

Bullish option trades opened in John Deere yesterday have already quadrupled as investors regain an appetite for equities.

On Dec. 26, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 2,000 January $145 calls bought in two prints for $1.47 and $1.85 with shares around $137.95. Volume was well above the strike’s open interest of 1,174 contracts, indicating that this was fresh buying.

Those calls traded up to $6.01 today, about 4 times their average purchase price. The stock rallied 5.68% in the same time period, a large move but one that still pales in comparison to that of its 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.

DE jumped 2.41% to $146.72 today. The agriculture equipment manufacturer’s shares have lifted off a potential technical double bottom during the month of December, as investors look ahead to ongoing global trade progress.