zeke....an easy way for the shorts to cover those positions would be to drive the price down until next year when call options become available...the lower price will mean the premiums will be cheap for them to buy those call options...another way would be for them to sell near the money puts, and have the stock assigned to them ...these shorts are very clever....however, the low price of coop stock plays to advantage, in that we can accumulate them at the low prices until the trend reverses...Lodas