[datavirtue]

They are only selling puts...that's a half-hearted short. They have the resources to borrow shares and bag the whole amount without a time constraint...why not do that?

[lukewink]

Selling puts is not a short at all

[nickff]

It is commonly referred to as a ‘short position’, though it is not ‘shorting the stock’. Equally, purchasing calls* is referred to as a ‘long position’ (as is holding the equity).

edit: smallmancontrov below pointed out that I wrote 'purchasing puts' was long, when I meant to write 'purchasing calls'

[smallmancontrov]

Selling puts is a long position. Purchasing puts is short.

[pgwhalen]

It’s all a matter of perspective I suppose, and of course I understand why you say this, but no professional options trader I’ve ever met would speak in these terms.

[klodolph]

Buying puts.

[smallmancontrov]

Once you fully risk manage a short position and account for the price of doing so, you might realize that you have reinvented a put contract.

[metabagel]

They’re buying puts.