The problem with traditional retail being short naked puts is they generally do not have a pool of cash sitting on the sidelines to absorb margin calls and/or b

The problem with traditional retail being short naked puts is they generally do not have a pool of cash sitting on the sidelines to absorb margin calls and/or buy (if assigned). Likewise, buying in a tanking market on margin entails additional risk that needs to be well considered before hand. Selling straddles or strangles against a long position in a stock that you do like is reasonable play, but there needs to be a full understanding of how vol and time decay can effect the value of the entire position up to maturity and a recognition that nobody is getting assigned/called early excepting unique circumstances (ie, high dividend stocks) For those reasons, I'd only suggest these types of trades to fairly well capitalized retail investors and those who have taken the time to gain a basic understanding of equity options and the use of margin. In proper hands, these can be very rewarding trade ideas/techniques.