Making Money During a Stock Market Crash

There are a lot of experts out there who are claiming that the market will fall back down and create another great depression. In reality no one knows were the market will be for sure, but if it does go down there are still plenty of ways to make money.

Actually traders can make large returns faster in a bears market then in a bulls market. That is because stocks tend to climb up stairs and fall out elevators. There are 3 different strategies that allow you to make money during a stock market crash.

1. Shorting Stocks

Shorting is the process of borrowing stock and then returning it. By shorting a stock you simply borrow it from your broker and then sell it. Later on you will have to buy it back and return it to your broker. The idea is to sell stocks high and buy them back lower.

2. Buy Put Options

Put options give traders a way to make much higher returns in a falling market. When you buy a put you simply buy the right to sell a stock at a given price. As the price of the stock goes down your option becomes worth more. After all if you have the right to sell a stock at $50 it should be worth more if the stock is trading at $30 then if it is trading at $60.

3. Selling Calls

Another type of option is called a call option. When you sell a call option you give another trader the right to buy the stock from you at a given price. For this you recieve a premium. If the stock stays below that price the call will expire worthless and you walk away with the free premium.

Of course if it goes up there is no limit to how high it can go, so the risk is unlimited unless you buy a higher call option. For instance if you sell the $50 call for $5 and buy the $55 call for $3 you would profit from the difference, $2. You would also limit your potential loss to $5 because even if the stock goes to infinity you can always buy it at $55.

Learning what caused the great depression and how to make money in that situation can help you to prepare in case we see another crash like the 1929 Crash of Stock Market