Sometimes in a long bull market trend, like what we’ve been experiencing, it is easy to overlook protecting options trades and stock portfolios against downside moves. It is easy to get complacent whenever you see the market shake off any negative news and maybe only with a pause it goes back up, but eventually the market will have a correction. Protective Measures Of course one of the best ways to protect yourself is to have some protective measures on ahead of time so that you are not  scrambling to protect yourself once the move is in play. In my mind one of the best ways to do this is to consider purchasing long verticals or long calls in the VIX options two to three months out in time. Considering VIX options currently in late May or early June  would be attractive. What I like to do is  wait for a day whenever the VIX pulls back a bit and then look at buying options at  2 to 3 points out of the money and  a few more points out of the money. For example if the VIX is at 11, you may want to consider buying 13 call options and also […]