Silver Wheaton (SLW) slides as metals futures tumble

Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) stock is declining today, as silver futures are trading lower by more than 3%. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on SLW.

After hitting a one-year low of $8.83 last March, the stock hit a one-year high of $19.16 in January. This morning, SLW opened at $17.93. So far today the stock has hit a low of $17.12 and a high of $17.93. As of 12:45, SLW is trading at $17.48, down 71 cents (-3.9%). The chart for SLW looks bullish and steady.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a June bear-call credit spread above the $22.50 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make an 8.7% return in three and a half months as long as SLW is below $22.50 at June expiration. Silver Wheaton would have to rise by more than 29% before we would start to lose money.

SLW hasn't been above $20 at all in the past year and has shown resistance around $18.50 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of silver and other precious metals continues to rise at a meteoric rate, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance SLW might find just above $19, where the stock topped out back in January.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in SLW.