May Silver hit an air pocket Thursday morning, dropping 70 cents, or nearly four percent, in the space of an hour.  From a technical standpoint the kamikaze dive tripped a short-sale signal at 17.755 that is tied to a 15.355 target. I expect the nastiness to come down to at least 16.948, the midpoint pivot indicated by the red line. If bulls are going to turn things around, that’s where they’ll have the best chance of succeeding.  If the futures instead crush the pivot, especially the first time they encounter it, that would shorten the odds of a completion of the move down to 15.400. _______ UPDATE (Mar 5, 7:06 p.m.):  Silver took a leap out of a deep hole Friday, but so far it hasn’t recouped even half of the previous day’s nearly 70-cent loss. The May contract would need to hit 18.405 by Wednesday at latest to offer any reason for encouragement. Otherwise, the analysis proffered above can stand as given. _______ UPDATE (Mar 8, 10:20 p.m.): Use the midpoint Hidden Pivot at 16.885 (see inset, a new chart) as a minimum downside target for the near term. If it fails to generate a significant bounce, expect May Silver to fall below $16 — possibly as low as 15.355, or even 15.230. _______ UPDATE (Mar 9, 7:11 p.m): In after hours trading, the futures have bounced — weakly so far — from a low at exactly 16.855, the minimum downside projection I’d provided above. The bounce had better be a good one or silver could find itself in big trouble. _______ UPDATE (Mar 12, 8:13 p.m.): The rally off my downside target has been unimpressive so far. Let’s set an alert at 17.315, just above a key peak recorded last week on the way down, so that we can know exactly when to become enthused. _______ UPDATE (Mar 14, 8:41 p.m.): Silver continues to look sickly. The futures will have a chance to bounce off a minor Hidden Pivot support at 16.710 (60-min, A=17.310 on 3/9) that is my minimum downside objective for the near term, but look out below if it fails. _______ UPDATE (Mar 15, 9:26 p.m.): Set a chart alert at 19.070 if you want to know when it’s safe to jump back in the pool. In the meantime, the lesser charts are a bull trade. Today’s wacky short-covering spree projects as high as 17.750, with crucial resistance at 17.525.  Click here to see the relevant chart.  ________ UPDATE (Mar 16, 10:08 p.m.): A second-day thrust died at 17.585, but not before it decisively surpassed the 17.525 resistance noted above.  This is bullish, but we’ll have to wait and see whether buyers can follow through — and the sooner the better. _______ UPDATE (Mar 19, 9:48 p.m.): The rally begun last Wednesday from 16.825 is showing promise, but it will need to hurdle the 17.610 midpoint Hidden Pivot resistance (click here for chart)– the sooner the better — to become an even-odds bet to reach the pattern’s 17.990 target.