$FEYE bulls turn fast gains

It took less than a week for option traders to turn fast gains on upside positions in FireEye (FEYE).

On Dec. 21, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity scanners showed that 6,500 Weekly $20 calls expiring this Thursday were purchased for $0.33 to $1.00 with shares at $19.84. These were clearly new positions, as the open interest in that contract before the trade occurred was just 5,873.

Those calls traded for as much as $5.51 this session, more than 5 times their purchase prices. The stock rose 28.38% in the same time frame, showing how quickly options can far outperform 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.

FEYE was up 7.32% to $24.04 at the close. The cybersecurity company has rebounded sharply since its disclosing a cyber attack on Dec. 8.