$FB calls prices soar 9-fold

Option traders are racking up enormous gains on bullish positions opened in Face book at the beginning of the year.

On Jan. 4, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 6,300 June $175 calls in one print for $2.51 with shares at $137.09. This was clearly a new position, as volume in the strike was 4,238 contracts before the activity appeared.

Those calls traded for as much as $22.80 today, more than 9 times their purchase price. The stock rallied about 43% in the same time period, a huge move but nowhere near that of its options on a relative basis.

It was the fourth winning trade in the name posted on Investitute in as many weeks.

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.

FB climbed to $196.18 this morning before pulling back with the rest of the market to close at $193.03, off 0.19% on the session The social network rallied after reporting strong earnings and traffic numbers after the market closed on April 24.