Naked Option
Industry lingo for call or put options that are written and not covered or have another position that will limit their liability. In the case of call options, writers are naked if they do not own either the underlying security, a security convertible into the underlying security, or a long call at a strike price equal to or lower than the strike price that was written and that does not expire before the written call. In the case of put options, writers are naked if they do not either have a short position in the underlying security, a bank guarantee letter, or do not own a long put with a strike price equal to or higher than the strike price of the put that was written and that does not expire before the put that was written.
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