davi...@mac.com

Selling puts is a good move if you're bullish...I would recommend a)
go for short timeframes (ie. Jan 09 is not a great idea, go for apr or
jul), and b) use a put spread, or more succinctly, use some of the
cash you get from selling a put to buy a lower price, further out of
the money put to protect your downside.

I had a $180/$160 Put spread (sell the $180, buy the $160) on for this
past January which netted me a $9.50 credit in October.  As we blew
through $180 and onto $200, I could have closed out the position for
around $2 in Dec but passed.  I was thinking there was no WAY we would
ever see my approx. $171 break even when we were sitting above $190.
Well, you know the story--we were sitting under the $160 level and I
was looking at a max loss on the trade.  Man was I glad to have the
downside $160 puts as this thing tanked.  As we went under $150, I was
relatively calm thinking I'm already at max loss (thanks to my
spread), so I'll stick it out and see if I can do better before I
exit.  I was able to get out at an approx. $7 debit--I think it was
expiration day, I sold into the am strength.  If I hadn't had the
downside protection at $160 (ie. naked at $180), I would have panicked
at $150 and sold, taking a much bigger loss than I ended up with on
this trade.  Use spreads, especially when betting against downward
movement.  Downdrafts tend to be quicker and more severe, so don't
leave your butt swinging in the wind...protect it.  Word to the wise.