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Technology Stocks : VitalStream Holdings Inc. (VSTH) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FDHIII who wrote (358)	6/6/2000 3:23:00 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 447

OT I've never shorted a stock directly (although I tried with KREM at 65 1/2 but no shares were available). I have bought puts instead. An put order gives you the right to sell 100 shares at a specified price by a particular date. If the share price goes down the puts become more valuable, if it goes up the puts lose value. They also lose value over time as expiration gets closer. The advantages over selling shares short are 1 - They provide more leverage, and 2 - Your maximum loss is equal to the cost of the put contract. With a short sale your theoretical maximum loss in infinite. Disadvantages - 1 The value of an option slowly decays over time. 2 They are usually less liquid then stocks, they have bigger % spreads. 3. Commissions are usually higher. I guess I should label this off topic because there apparently are now SCII options so its not relevant to this stock. Tim