Sell put options on all stocks in a recession?

Are you trying to hedge your portfolio or buy stock cheap? If you're trying to hedge, you buy puts, not sell them. If you've got a stock you really don't want to hold if it goes below $20 and it's heading down, buy a put at $20 and your problem will go away at $19.95. If it turns around, you're not out much. Think of a covered put here as an insurance policy. Buying stock cheap is done by selling puts. If you are convinced that a stock will be good after the recession ends, you'd sell puts and profit from the misery of others. ---- The holder of a put option has the right to sell a stock at a certain price. So the holder makes money of they can buy the stock at a price lower than the strike price for the put option. So if you want to make money from puts in market where the stock prices are headed south, then you buy put options. There are two types of options. One can be exercised at any time before it expires. The other can be exercised only on a certain date (european). Obviously the option values are different depending on which one you are going for.