I have about 20 different option positions out right now, all spreads and I kick myself in the ass everyday I look at the $ I will be leaving on the table when the spreads expire. It is true I did limit my loss potential with the short, but in most cases I'm going to take in $100-200 profit and leave 3-4 times that on the table. And of course if I buy back my shorts early the stock will immediately turn down. I think I'm going back to my original trading techniques from when I first started and just decide how much I can afford to lose on a trade, buy 1/2 the amount of naked puts or calls, double up if it goes against me and bottoms out then reverses. I know this flies in the face of sound $ management for stock traders. But in 5 years of trading options, this is the only way I have made enough $ to make it worth the effort.