$PINS bulls put gains on the board

Option traders scored big profits today on upside positions in Pinterest (PINS).

On Monday, Apr. 20, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity tracking systems detected the fast purchase of 9,000 Weekly $18.50 calls for $0.30 to $0.50 with shares at $17.64. Volume was well above the strike’s previous open interest of 169 contracts, showing that this was fresh interest.

Those calls traded for as much as $2.14 today, over 4 times their purchase prices. The stock rose 16.95% 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.

PINS opened at $19.94 this morning and ran to close near the intraday highs, up 9.33% to $20.62. The social networking service is scheduled to report earnings on May 5 after the closing bell.