[YeBanKo]

He might be sitting on a bunch of QQQ and SPY and just hedge against the price drop. I don’t know if reporting requirements are the same for long puts vs protective. Can anyone familiar with the topic elaborate?

[qeternity]

"Protective" puts are the same thing as long puts. Doesn't matter if you own underlying against.

What doesn't have to be reported are shorts, so he could very well be long put spreads but the short leg would never be reported.

There is really very little point in trying to read the 13F tea leaves.