Silver has been weak for a long time, but yesterday the bulls were jumping in.
The option paper hit in the ProShares Ultra Silver fund, which is double-leveraged to the price of the metal. More than 2,300 March 42 calls traded in a heavy buying pattern for $0.95 and $1 in volume well above the strike's previous open interest of 678 contracts, indicating new activity, according to OptionMonster's tracking systems.
Calls lock in the price where investors can buy the fund, so they can generate some nice leverage in the event of a rally. But if the stock stays below the $42 strike price, their entire investment could evaporate in a matter of just three weeks.