Patient bull targets Intermune-11/06/2009

One investor apparently thinks that Intermune is headed north of $22.50 and crafted a long-term strategy to ride the move.

optionMONSTER's tracking systems detected the purchase of about 2,800 April 22.50 calls for $1.90, matched against the sale of an equal number of January 12.50 puts for $1.15. Volume exceeded open interest in both strikes.

ITMN rose 1.55 percent to $13.72 yesterday and is down 10 percent in the past three months. The drug developer appears to be rebounding after making its third higher low since January, which some traders may consider a bullish chart pattern.

The trade is designed to leverage a long-term move in the shares. By selling shorter-dated puts that are near the money, the investor reduced the cost of the trade to $0.75. He or she then has the option of selling more puts or calls after January expiration to reduce the cost further.

For the strategy to succeed, the stock will have to break through the $20 level which has been resistance for the past two years. After the bell, ITMN reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Overall options activity in the stock was eight times greater than average yesterday.

(Chart courtesy of tradeMONSTER)

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