More than 15,000 of those 12 weeklies would trade in the session, slightly above previous open interest of 14,675 contracts.
Calls lock in the price investors must pay to buy shares, so they can generate significant leverage from even a small move. The drawback is that they can expire worthless if a rally doesn't occur. In the case of Wednesday's buyers, the lifespan was very short at just two sessions.
Hewlett-Packard shares ended the day up 1.96 percent to $11.94. It had plunged 12 percent in the previous session after lowering guidance and admitting that it lost billions on the acquisition of a British software maker. The once-mighty tech company has been struggling against weak PC sales, and has lost more than half its value since the beginning of 2012. (Read More: HP Showed 'Willful Blindness' on Autonomy: Chanos)
Total option volume in the name was five times greater than average.
—By CNBC Contributor David Russell
Additional News: Hewlett's Loss: A Folly Unfolds, by the Numbers
Additional Views: Has Forest Oil Finally Bottomed?: Russell
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David Russell is a reporter and writer for OptionMonster. Russell has no positions in HPQ.
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