Short Put Option Strategy - #1 Options Strategies Center (2024)

With the short put option strategy, the investor is betting on the fact that the stock will rise or stay flat until the option expires. If the put option expires worthless, out of the money (above the strike price), then the trader keeps the entire premium, which represents their maximum profit on the trade. When it comes to single option trades, selling a put option is one of two bull market strategies, the other being the long call option.

As seen on the graph, the seller of the short put is obligated to purchase the stock, in most cases 100 shares per contract, at the strike price A if the buyer wants to exercise the contract.

Short Put Option Strategy - #1 Options Strategies Center (1)

Selling a put option can be valuable to investors as it allows them to increase their income, taking premium from other traders who are betting the stocks would fall. Therefore, when using the short put strategy, the investor receives the premium, cushioning themselves from a flat market with little movement. Nevertheless, investors need to sell their puts sparingly because they are on the hook to purchase shares if the stock falls below the strike-price by expiration.

An investor should keep a close eye on volatility levels when selling put options. The higher the volatility, the more risk to the trader, but the higher premium they receive for taking on this type of options trade.

Short puts are used to achieve better buying prices on the overpriced stocks. Here an investor would sell the puts at much lower strike prices, at the level where the investor would prefer to buy the stock.

When to Use the Short Put Strategy

If an investor believes a stock is going to stay above a specific price point or they wish to purchase the stock at a lower price point, selling a put option should be a consideration. Here the investor will sell put options with a specific expiration date in mind in exchange for receiving a premium. If the stock stays above the strike price (the price the investor will have to buy the stock), the investor will keep the entire premium as profit.

If the stock falls below the strike price, the investor will be forced to buy the stock at that level. This is not always a bad thing. For example, if an investor wishes to buy a stock at $50, but it is currently trading $55, they could sell a 50 strike price put option contract and receive a $3 premium. If the stock continues to trade higher or fails to reach the $50 strike price, that premium is pure profit for the investor. However, if the stock falls below $50, the investor will be forced to buy the stock at that level. This, of course, is still $5 better than where they initially wanted to buy the stock. Because they also received a $3 premium when they sold the put option contract, they now have a cost basis in the stock of $47.

Selling a put option this case is really a win-win scenario, either they make a $3 to watch the stock trade higher, or they get the buy the stock significantly lower than where they initially wanted to purchase it.

Profit/Loss

Maximum Gain = Net Premium Received

The maximum loss for a short put strategy is unlimited as the stock can continue to move against the trader, at least until it reaches zero.

Breakeven

The breakeven on a short put option is calculated by subtracting the premium from the strike price.
If a stock is trading $100 and an investor wants to sell a 90-strike price put for $2.0, then the breakeven would be $88.00.

Example

If stock XYZ is trading $100 and the investor wants to buy it for the stock $90, they can sell a 90 strike-price put option and collect a $2 premium to do so. If the stock trades down to $90, they will be forced to buy the stock, which is what they wanted, and at the lower price. Plus, they got paid $2 to do so.

If, however, the stock continues to trade up or never trades down to $90, they won’t get to buy the stock, but that $2 premium they received is theirs to keep.

Conclusion

The short put is a good strategy; traders are either paid to buy the stock at a lower price point than where it currently trades or paid to watch the stock trade higher. Either way, it’s a win for the trader.

Chris Douthit

Chris Douthit, MBA, CSPO, is a former professional trader for Goldman Sachs and the founder of OptionStrategiesInsider.com. His work, market predictions, and options strategies approach has been featured on NASDAQ, Seeking Alpha, Marketplace, and Hackernoon.

Short Put Option Strategy - #1 Options Strategies Center (2024)

FAQs

Short Put Option Strategy - #1 Options Strategies Center? ›

Short puts are used to achieve better buying prices on the overpriced stocks. Here an investor would sell the puts at much lower strike prices, at the level where the investor would prefer to buy the stock.

What is the best option strategy to short a stock? ›

Shorting With Put Options

The first way is to buy put options or, as traders call it, going long on puts. Suppose the ABC stock is still priced at $100. You buy a put option at the strike price of $100 which gives you the right to sell 100 ABC shares at $100 a share, irrespective of the prevailing market price.

What is the most consistently profitable option strategy? ›

The most successful options strategy for consistent income generation is the covered call strategy. An investor sells call options against shares of a stock already owned in their portfolio with covered calls. This allows them to collect premium income while holding the underlying investment.

What is a short put strategy? ›

A short put is when a trader sells or writes a put option on a security. The idea behind the short put is to profit from an increase in the stock's price by collecting the premium associated with a sale in a short put. Consequently, a decline in price will incur losses for the option writer.

Which option strategy has highest success rate? ›

One of the most successful trading strategies in the bullish market is buying one call option, At-The-Money (ATM), and selling the call option, Out-Of-The-Money. This is known as a bull call spread.

What is the simplest most profitable trading strategy? ›

One of the simplest and most widely known fundamental strategies is value investing. This strategy involves identifying undervalued assets based on their intrinsic value and holding onto them until the market recognizes their true worth.

Is shorting more profitable than put options? ›

But, importantly, investors don't have to own the underlying stock to buy a put. Some investors buy puts to place a bet that a certain stock's price will decline because put options provide higher potential profit than shorting a stock outright.

What is statistically the best option strategy? ›

1. Bull Call Spread. A bull call spread strategy is driven by a bullish outlook. It involves purchasing a call option with a lower strike price while concurrently selling one with a higher strike price, positioning you to profit from an anticipated gradual increase in the stock's value.

Which option strategy has unlimited profit potential? ›

The long straddle is a simple market-neutral strategy that involves buying In-The-Money call and put options with the same underlying asset, strike price and expiration date. In this strategy, the profit potential is unlimited while the loss potential is limited.

What is the 1% rule in options? ›

The 1% risk rule means not risking more than 1% of account capital on a single trade. It doesn't mean only putting 1% of your capital into a trade. Put as much capital as you wish, but if the trade is losing more than 1% of your total capital, close the position.

When to roll a short put option? ›

As a general rule of thumb, you should consider rolling before options you've sold reach anywhere from 2–4% ITM , depending on the value of the stock and market conditions (e.g. implied volatility). If the option gets too deep ITM, it will be tough to roll for an acceptable net debit, never mind receiving a net credit.

When to exercise short put? ›

In the case of a put option, it is said to be exercised when the writer of the option contract is obligated to purchase the shares from the option holder (the one who has the option or right to sell). Investors may choose to exercise a put option they own when the stock price is lower than the strike price.

How to hedge a short put option? ›

To hedge a short put, an investor may sell a call with the same strike price and expiration date, thereby creating a short straddle. This will add additional credit and extend the break-even price above and below the centered strike price of the short straddle equal to the amount of premium collected.

What is the most lucrative option strategy? ›

A Bull Call Spread is made by purchasing one call option and concurrently selling another call option with a lower cost and a higher strike price, both of which have the same expiration date. Furthermore, this is considered the best option selling strategy.

What is the safest option strategy? ›

Two of the safest options strategies are selling covered calls and selling cash-covered puts.

Which option has the greatest gain potential? ›

Which option strategy has the greatest gain potential? The best answer is A. A long straddle consists of a long call and a long put. In a rising market, the long call has unlimited gain potential.

What is the easiest way to short a stock? ›

The process of how to short a stock
  1. Open a brokerage account and fund it. From here, you must take several actions.
  2. Apply for margin trading. ...
  3. Borrow the stock to short-sell. ...
  4. Monitor your account equity. ...
  5. Mind, then close your position.
Apr 24, 2024

Which strategy is best for short-term trading? ›

Popular short-term trading strategies include:
  • Momentum trading.
  • Range trading.
  • Breakout trading.
  • Reversal trading.

What is the best stock tips for short-term trading? ›

Short-term trading tips

Find your best time of day to trade. Depending on your strategy, this can vary as to when the market is most liquid or oversees the most price action. You can adjust your chart timeframe settings to reflect the previous second, minute, hour, day, week and so on. Analyse chart patterns.

What is the safest stock option strategy? ›

The safest option strategy is one that involves limited risk, such as buying protective puts or employing conservative covered call writing. Selling cash-secured puts stands as the most secure strategy in options trading, offering a clear risk profile and prospects for income while keeping overall risk to a minimum.

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