Put Spread A put spread is a position comprised of long puts and short puts. A debit put vertical is a bearish options strategy that buys one put and sells another put at a lower strike on the same date. This is sometimes called a bear put spread. Opening a debit put vertical can be a good strategy with a high payout if testing a Call Wall or Volatility Trigger™ from underneath, or if falling under a Put Wall. A debit put vertical is mostly a directional play. When it is right about the price dropping sharply, then it usually has a bonus from a sudden increase in IV (implied volatility). As another luxury, this strategy reliably has a [skew] edge when bought on index products, and on most (but not all) stocks. A credit put vertical is short a put and then long a put at a lower strike. Using a credit put vertical can be a high-accuracy strategy if opening it above well established support, such as when testing a Put Wall from above for a potential bounce. A trader would want to use a credit put vertical if expecting any outcome other than a sharp decline in the underlying security’s price. In other words, this is more of a “not bearish” trade than a bullish trade. The max loss is limited to the difference between the put strikes, minus the net premium collected upfront. Max profit is the net premium collected upfront. Related articles Ratio Spread Butterfly Spread Call Spread Straddle Short Selling