Apple surge draws short-term trades

Traders want instant gratification in Apple today as the tech giant soars to an all-time high after crushing earnings estimates last night.

Option volume has surpassed 400,000 less than an hour into the trading session, already nearly  quadruple their daily average. Even more noteworthy is the fact that short-term weekly contracts dominate the flow and account for more than one-third of the total.

Those contracts expire this Friday, so they require the stock to move in a hurry or will end up worthless. AAPL's Weekly 450 calls traded more than 20,000 times, with large blocks purchased for $3.45 to $3.95. The Weekly 455 calls were the second most active and were purchased for $1.45 to $2.10. Overall calls outnumbered puts by more than 2 to 1.

While those large trades were bullish, the overall balance of the AAPL option activity is less clear. In total, more calls were sold than bought, according to optionMONSTER's tracking programs. Puts, which make money from shares dropping, were also bought overall.

AAPL has also been surrendering its gains since the morning began. It gapped higher by 8 percent at the open gain but is now up a little more than 6 percent to $445.94. (See Bryan McCormick's technical analysis on where the stock may trade from here.)

The move follows a Apple's blockbuster earnings release last night. The strong results, which followed a disappointing report in October, soothed fears about the company losing its way after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

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