These comments compliments of Silveraxis.com:

Short Covering

Silver declined more than $3 in the past week yet open interest remained relatively stable at around 116,000 contracts. As of Tuesday September 9, commercials had reduced their net short position from the prior week by just 1,400 contracts while covering 2,000 contracts of their gross short position. The flat open interest during the rest of this week indicates little movement in trader composition since Tuesday. Still, the commercial net short position has reached a bullish level at 32.2% of open interest. Why bullish? The low 30% level has served to mark every bottom but one in silver during the current bull market, and the one exception was the August 2007 low when the commercial net short position reached the low 20% range. While it is possible that we could be in for a repeat performance (one that would argue for a final price plunge), it is entirely plausible that the current % level is adequate for purposes of a supporting a switch from selling to buying pressure on the COMEX.