re: SLV

I've looked at trading options but I've just never figured out how I can make more money doing it instead of buying/shorting the shares themselves. I realize the downside risk can be limited but I can do that with stop limits.

I know some people who trade options because they can get the benefit of trading on larger blocks of shares without having the money to actually buy that many shares.

If you write (sell) options, the buyer will only exercise his option if it benefits him, which means it hurts you and it's out of your control what he does.