$TWTR calls turn quick profits

Option traders more than doubled their money today on bullish positions opened in Twitter (TWTR) only last week.

On July 1, Investitute’s tracking systems found that 5,000 Weekly $36.50 calls expiring this Friday were bought for $0.50 to $0.54 above open interest of 723 contracts with shares at $35.80. Investitute co-founder Jon Najarian cited the unusual activity at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded for as much as $1.17 so far today, more than twice their purchase prices. The stock rose 4.92% 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.

TWTR is up 3.28 to $37.65 this afternoon, its session high so far. The stock is rallying along with other social-media names today as technology outperforms other sectors.