Bearish Strategies
Long Puts
Long Puts

For aggressive investors who have a strong feeling that a particular stock is about to move lower, long puts are an excellent low risk, high reward strategy. Rather than opening yourself to enormous risk of short selling stock, you could buy puts (the right to sell the stock).
Naked Call
Naked Call

Selling naked calls is a very risky strategy which should be utilized with extreme caution. By selling calls without owning the underlying stock, you collect the option premium and hope the stock either stays steady or declines in value. If the stock increases in value this strategy has unlimited risk.
Put Back Spread
Put Backspread

For aggressive investors who expect big downward moves in already volatile stocks, backspreads are great strategies. The trade itself involves selling a put at a higher strike and buying a greater number of puts at a lower strike price.
Bear Call Spread
Bear Call Spread

For investors who maintain a generally negative feeling about a stock, bear spreads are a nice low risk, low reward strategies. This trade involves selling a lower strike call, usually at or near the current stock price, and buying a higher strike, out-of-the-money call.
Bear Put Spread
Bear Put Spread

For investors who maintain a generally negative feeling about a stock, bear spreads are another nice low risk, low reward strategy. This trade involves buying a put at a higher strike and selling another put at a lower strike. Like bear call spreads, bear put spreads profit when the price of the underlying stock decreases.
Please note:
  • All or part of your investments using Bullish Strategies have greater risk of loss in falling markets,
  • Investments using Neutral Strategies have greater risk of loss in volatile markets, and
  • Investments using Bearish Strategies have greater risk of loss in rising markets.

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The above content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. We offer no investment, tax or legal advice, and nothing in this material should be construed as such. Materials written for optionsXpress, Inc. by Robert Sullivan. All rights reserved, 2010, optionsXpress, Inc.