SLW

We hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 12.95 against eight October 26 calls shorted for 1.00. Continue to bid 0.58 to cover half the calls and 0.48 to cover the rest. Check back intraday, though, since I may recommend covering them on a buy-stop near 0.80 if SLW turns unstoppable once again. _______ UPDATE (4:24 a.m. EDT): SLW is looking pretty feisty at the moment, so let's plan on covering all of the calls with a 0.92 buy-stop, o-c-o with a 0.68 limit bid . That means that if the calls trade 0.92 or higher, you buy them back with a market order, but if they trade 0.68 first, that's where to get 'em in.  _______ FURTHER UPDATE (12:31 p.m. EDT):  We scratched the calls, covering them for 0.95 or less.  For what it's worth, Comex Silver's weekly chart points toward an important intermediate-term high at 22.50, so there's plenty of upside left.

Yesterday's forecast caught the intraday high of a powerful rally to the exact penny, allowing us to initiate a covered write at an excellent price. We shorted eight October 26 calls for 1.00 just ahead of an end-of-day selloff that shaved 70 cents from the share price in less than an hour. Let's try to partially cover the position today so that we can re-short some more calls later:  Bid 0.58 to close for four calls, day order, and 0.48 to cover four more.  We continue to hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 12.95, but our goal in putting on the covered write is to further reduce the cost of our stock.

We hold a long-term position of 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 12.95 that yields a paper profit of more than $7000 at current prices.  Whenever this stock turns feisty, it reminds me what a juicy takeover candidate it would make. It's hard to say whether it is rumors or reality driving SLW now, but I'm not so keen to do covered writes as I was before. My upside target is currently 25.54 (midpoint, now support = 21.27), and at this point I'm inclined to simply buy a few puts if and when the target is reached. _______ UPDATE (10:31 a.m. EDT):  The stock has hit 25.09 so far today on a powerful opening-bar gap, creating a pattern that projects to 25.35. Let's put on a hedge when it gets near that price, shorting eight October 26 calls against our position.  Offer them for 0.96 -- or whatever they will fetch with the stock trading within a nickel of the target.  (Note: As of 1:21 p.m., it looks as though the options will be trading for around 1.00.)  _______FURTHER UPDATE (2:14 P.M. EDT):  We shorted eight calls for 1.00 off a so-far intraday high of 1.01. Do nothing further for now, but please note that the stock could go as high as 25.54 on a targeted basis. The intraday high as of the moment is 25.32.

We hold a long-term position of 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 12.95. Although I'd intimated that a resumption of our covered-write strategy would be appropriate when the stock pushed above 20, option premiums are a bit lean at the moment, and so we should wait for a possible thrust above June's key high at 21.89 before we act. Even if SLW is unsuccessful on the first or second try, put and call prices are likely to get a boost merely from the effort. From a Hidden Pivot standpoint, the stock looks like it's entitled to at least 21.36 (a Hidden Pivot off the daily chart, where A=17.88 on 7/28) before serious resistance encroaches. The midpoint associated with that number is 20.21, and therefore a logical place to try bottom-fishing with a camouflage strategy. ______ UPDATE:  The rally made it to 21.36 but got a little wheezy just above that pivot. Obviously, the stock is taking the measure of June's key high at 21.89, so we'll need to be patient. Although SLW's approach so far may lack for boldness, it is at least game.

We hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 12.95.  Our last covered write expired in May, but we’ll start using the strategy again if and when SLW consolidates above $20. In the meantime, SLW would need to push above 20.46 to hold the pull of gravity at bay. Otherwise, the stock looks vulnerable to a shakeout beneath late May's 17.00 low.

We hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 12.95.  Our most recent covered write expired in May, but we'll look to sell some more call premium against our stock if and when it pokes above $20. ____ UPDATE:  The stock is trading above $20, but this seems like a good time to be a little greedy, so we'll hold off on the covered write.  My next rally target is 23.72, and that is where we'll plan to lay out some call options.

We hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 11.75 against eight May 18 calls shorted for 0.64.   Continue to bid 1.84 to try to get the calls back.  This corresponds to a minor downside target for today of 19.83.  ______ UPDATE (12:57 p.m. EDT):  Our patient, two-week vigil was rewarded with the worst timing of any option trade we've attempted in recent memory, since we wound up covering the calls just as this morning's avalanche was starting.  Live and learn, as they say.  We still have a $4200 paper profit on our position and a new cost basis of 12.95.

We hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 11.75 against eight May 18 calls shorted for 0.64.   Let's bid 1.84 today to try to get the calls back.  Pivoteers please note that I am using an abc-pattern "inverse" variation to project a low on the calls.

We hold 800 shares with an adjusted cost basis of 11.75 against eight May 18 calls shorted for 0.64.  Yeah, you're right, I should have had a stink bid in to cover the calls when they dipped as low as 60 cents.  We'll retire them at some point in the next week and retain the stock as a long-term hold. And someday we'll feel only mildly chastened for having missed $2 or $3 of the move when the stock eventually trades for $50. For now, though, I will indulge myself one more day of being frozen at the wheel, since  yesterday high at 20.96 was an exact Hidden Pivot target on the hourly chart (A=16.71).