Traders bet on RIM China prospects

NEW YORK: Traders are snapping up options on Research In Motion Ltd, betting the shares will climb 31 percent in five weeks as prospects for sales improve, especially in China.

Investors buying contracts to purchase RIM for $80 through Jan 15 helped drive bullish contracts on the stock to twice the level of bearish ones, the highest ratio since March 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The last time so-called calls outnumbered puts by as much, shares of the Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker quadrupled in 19 months.

Traders are speculating RIM will rebound from a 26 percent decline since the company forecast sales in September that were below analysts' estimates, said Nick Agostino, an analyst at Research Capital Corp in Toronto who has recommended the shares for more than three years. RIM is expanding distribution in China and its BlackBerry Curve surpassed Cupertino, California- based Apple Inc's iPhone as the top-selling consumer smartphone last quarter, helped by price cuts.