Limited Draws Upside Options Activity

By Mike Yamamoto, managing editor of OptionMonster

COLUMBUS, Ohio (TheStreet) -- Limited Brands(LTD Quote) drew upside options trading ahead of its September sales report Thursday.

The women's apparel retailer, based in Columbus, Ohio, jumped 7.8% Monday to close at $17.38, back near its 52-week high of $17.73 reached Sept. 23. The stocks is up nearly 70% in the last three months.

The options activity was concentrated at the January 17.50 contracts, which averages just 180 calls trade each day but Monday saw 4,185 change hands above open interest. The bulk of those calls were bought for $1.35 and $1.45, according to OptionMonster's proprietary tracking systems.

The stock would need to rise at least 8.5% for those calls to turn a profit by the time they expire in mid-January.

The company will release its same-store sales report for September at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. It is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings results on Nov. 18.