While I think I understand what kind of play you are referring to, I must say certain option premiums are definitely worth losing quite a bit of the principal. There are a few tech stocks that have been trading around 10 or 12.5 for months now, if not years, and each month (well, almost) I can sell the put for over $1. If it's assigned, I just get rid of the stock and sell the next month's put. Do that for half a year and you can have the stock lose another 50% of its value and still come out ahead on your total P/L.