Traders double money in $GE

Bullish option positions have turned substantial gains in General Electric.

On Sept. 25, Investitute’s proprietary programs cited the purchase of 50,000 June $12 calls for $1.02 with shares at $11.54. Volume was above the strike’s open interest of 30,341 contracts, showing that this was a new position.

Those calls rose to $2.20 today, more than twice their purchase price. The stock rose 14.82% in the same time frame, 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.

GE was up 4.11% to $13.18 today. The struggling industrial conglomerate is up sharply since naming a new CEO at the beginning of the week.