Yes. Good traders don't play with illiquid assets. Because it is more important to get out when you are wrong than making money. Everyone can make money in a bull market. Even Jerome Kerviel was up 1 Billion before losing all. Chris Mac
That is the key part of the master scam. Sykes has worked out deals with BD's where he can short anything as long as he funnels his sheep to their broker dealer.
I'm surprised that no one, including Tim himself, has expanded his trading concepts to shorting options. The payoff characteristic is not all that different, and if u are doing relatively liquid contracts u can still attempt to cut losses, etc as Tim advises.
The traditional name for the is The Baltimore StockBroker Scan (it's taught in statistics classes.) It enables you to present prospective clients with a track record of 50 winning traders in a row