Alternative Options Strategies for Short Selling

Put buying and call selling are some of the most common ways to express a bearish view on a stock, but often the shape of the volatility surface means these are suboptimal ways to express that view. Imran Lakha, the founder of Options Insight, outlines four alternative options structures which depending on the market environment may be better ways to structure a bearish options trade. Lakha explains which types of volatility environments make these strategies more attractive, how they react to different paths, and the risks traders need to be aware of for strategies that sell naked optionality.