because you might wind up buying the stock, you should only open the number of contracts consistent with how many shares of the stock you would feel comfortable owning.

For example, if you might normally buy 200 shares of a given stock, you would then only trade two contracts because recall that each contract represents 100 shares of the underlying stock.

Money Makers on Markdown

The important point is that selling put options is a great way make money while you wait to buy only those quality stocks over which you've been drooling.

For many of you, that could be the Apples (AAPL), the Googles (GOOG) or the Exxon Mobils (XOM) of the stock world. Or perhaps you want to get into the next hot sector where prices previously ran up, be that solar power, water stocks or the like is your preferred method of how to invest your money on the long side.

But, like anything, selling puts can cost you dearly if you get too greedy. The underlying stock's price could drop right to zero and you'd still have to buy 100 or more shares of the stock at the option's strike price. This is why I want you to be absolutely certain that you only sell puts on stocks that you would be glad to have in your portfolio for the long term.

The only other downside (if you consider profit a downside) is that the maximum profit is the amount of income you receive at the outset from selling (or what's known as "writing") the put. Fortunately, there are strategies to reduce that risk, namely credit spreads, which you can read about by clicking here.

There's no doubt it's been a tough market, even for the super investors like Warren Buffett, but a tough market is not impossible. For options traders, we can do more than close our eyes and wish for profit – we can take control, learn how to invest in this market and make it happen.

If you want to take control of your portfolio now, join us at Ken Trester's Maximum Options for the best options trading ideas for every level of investor. Whether you have $1,000 or $100,000 to work with, Ken's low-priced options trades will give you the best bang for your buck. Click here to begin profiting with one of the options market's most experienced traders.