These options strategies can be great ways to invest or leverage existing positions for investors with a bullish market sentiment.
LONG CALL
For aggressive investors who are bullish about the short-term prospects for a stock, buying calls can be an excellent way to capture the upside potential with limited downside risk.
COVERED CALL
For conservative investors, selling calls against a long stock position can be an excellent way to generate income without assuming the risks associated with uncovered calls. In this case, investors would sell one call contract for each 100 shares of stock they own.
PROTECTIVE PUT
For investors who want to protect the stocks in their portfolio from falling prices, protective puts provide a relatively low-cost form of portfolio insurance. In this case, investors would purchase one put contract for each 100 shares of stock they own.
BULL CALL SPREAD
For bullish investors who want a nice low risk, limited return strategy without buying or selling the underlying stock, bull call spreads are a great alternative.
BULL PUT SPREAD
For bullish investors who want a nice low risk, limited return strategy, bull put spreads are another alternative. Like the bull call spread, the bull put spread involves buying and selling the same number of put options at different strike prices.
CALL BACK SPREAD
For bullish investors who expect big moves in already volatile stocks, call back spreads are a great limited risk, unlimited reward strategy. The trade itself involves selling a call (or calls) at a lower strike and buying a greater number of calls at a higher strike price.
NAKED PUT
For bullish investors who are interested in buying a stock at a price below the current market price, selling naked puts can be an excellent strategy. In this case, however, the risk is substantial because the writer of the option is obligated to purchase the stock at the strike price regardless of where the stock is trading.
