What is the diff between short put and long put?
Previous answers were pretty much on target in terms of telling you how you create a short put position and a long put position. You create a short put position with a “sell to open” transaction and you create a long put position with a “buy to open” transaction. What previous answers did not do well is explain the meaning of the the two positions. If you buy a put option with a “buy to open” transaction you own, or hold, the option. That gives you the right (but not the obligation) to sell the underlying asset for a certain amount prior to the option expiration date. That is known as a long option position. If you sell a put option with a “sell to open” transaction you “wrote” the option. That gives you the obligation to buy the stock at the strike price if the option holder chooses to exercise that option. This is known as a short option position. Since a long option position is clearly an asset and a short option position is clearly a liability, the buyer and the seller must agree o
