$PINS bulls double money

Option traders scored big profits today on upside positions in Pinterest (PINS) with shares at fresh highs.

On Oct. 19, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity Scanners found that 2.300 Weekly $50 calls expiring next Friday, Oct. 30, were bought for $1.59 to $2.11 with shares at $45.42. This was clearly fresh buying, as open interest in the strike was only 1,751 contracts before that session began.

Market Rebellion co-founder Jon Najarian noted the activity that day on CNBC’s Halftime Report.

Those calls have traded for as much as $5.82 today, well over 2.5 times their purchase prices. The stock rose 15.61% in the same time frame, showing how quickly options can far outperform their underlying shares.

It is the third winning trade in the name to be posted on Market Rebellion in the past week.

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 was last up 3.01% to $52.34. The social networking service is scheduled to report earnings on Oct. 28 after the closing bell.