Weekly Apple Calls Popular as Stock Trades Near All-Time High

The tech sector is hot today, and that's providing a lift for iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). AAPL shares are trading up 1.7% at $189.98, putting them just below their May 10 all-time high of $190.37. Aside from the broader market tailwinds, the Wall Street Journal just published a story about Apple's push to expand its ad business (subscription required), and UBS this morning raised its price target to $210 from $190 -- though most analysts remain bearish. At these levels, the blue chip sports a year-to-date lead north of 12%, recently finding support from its 20-day moving average.

In the meantime, call buying looks popular today, with the options more than doubling their put counterparts. New positions are being opened at the weekly 6/1 190-strike call -- which expires at today's close -- and the weekly 6/8 190-strike call. Those buying the latter calls are expecting Apple stock to continue pushing higher in the coming days, possibly hoping for a boost from next week's developers conference.

Interestingly, put buying has actually been unusually popular on AAPL in recent weeks. The security has a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.76 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks just 3 percentage points from a 12-month high. Either way, Apple has been a good target for premium buyers, based on its Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 80, with the stock showing a tendency to blow past options traders' volatility expectations.