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Road To Commodity Meltdown Paved In Silver Put Options

  Today’s tickers: SLV, COF, DPS & ADI SLV  - iShares Silver Trust ETF –  The rebound in investor sentiment following the post-earthquake, fear-driven spike in the Japanese yen was quite remarkable, with global equity benchmarks almost rebounding to February peaks. During that recovery period something critical developed in the currency world that lifted commodity prices to new heights. The debate between FOMC members regarding whether less rather than more stimulus was needed, was eclipsed by the ECB’s reversal of monetary policy, which in turn hobbled the dollar. Demand for commodities took a further step forward as investors swiftly concluded that the dollar was most likely to trail the euro even in a risk-on environment. That has made the cascade in commodity prices all the more spectacular today as growth-sensitive currencies lose favor. The IMF downgrade to growth and Goldman’s warning over a possible stall in the advance has investors targeting downside risk across the commodity field. Silver prices, already at a 30-year high, are likely to stumble further and faster according to a sizable put butterfly strategy on the iShares Silver Trust ETF today. The put ‘fly follows Monday’s massive bearish play on the SLV in which some 100,000 July $25 strike puts were picked up at a premium of $0.10 apiece. The 0.40% decline in the price of the ETF’s shares to $39.05 this afternoon saw the asking price on the July $25 strike puts more than double to $0.21 per contract at times on Tuesday. In contrast, the put’ fly player accelerated the bearish view on the price of silver by targeting May contract put options. The 25,000-lot May $34/$36/$38 bearish butterfly spread positions the player to attain maximum benefits should the price of SLV shares fall around 7.5% to $36.00 by expiration day. The spread cost the trader a net $0.31 in premium per contract, but prepares him to accumulate up to $1.69 per contract if the price of the underlying fund settles at $36.00 at expiration. Nearly 400,000 option contracts have changed hands on the SLV as of 1:15pm in New York.…
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