FWIW, do not fall in love with one type of spread. It is like the proverbial round peg/square hole situation. You need to know your greeks, have an opinion on direction of the underlying, and have an opinion on the direction of the volatility. Bull put spreads do well when placed at volatility tops and exited when volatility crunches. Typically, the underlying goes up--favorable direction--but your bull put spread will make money even if the underlying doesn't move. As mentioned above, which short leg and which long leg do you use (OTM, ATM, near-term, far term, etc)? At what strikes do you place your legs? How far apart are the legs? Do you plan to exit early once a certain amount of profit is realized? Risk/reward ratio? Lots to consider, believe me.
Let's use the current situation with the s&p 500 index options. I would be hesitant to use the bull put spread here because: 1) volatility is low. I would expect a pop soon in the volatility and that would be a time to look at placing your bull put spread. 2) the index is rising. I would want to place bull put spreads as the market is dipping. If you are patient and wait for your opportunity, you will eliminate many losing trades using this spread. Placing FOTM spreads may look good, but their values jump when volatility jumps, for their IV's are higher. You gotta place your protective leg carefully, and have a mental stop..you do not have to hold these until expiration. JMHO and $.02
