An option strategy whereby a number of put options are bought at a certain exercise price and an equal number of puts (with same expiration date and underlying asset) are sold at a lower exercise price. This bearish strategy produces its profits when the underlying asset price falls. And so, it is the reverse of a bull call spread in that it works similarly but in the opposite direction. The bear put spread technically belongs to the family of vertical spread because it involves options of the same stock, same expiration month, but with different exercise prices. Additionally, it also falls into the class of debit spread because the trader has to pay a premium to put on this position (where a net debit is resulted).

Bear put spreads are useful for investors who are fairly pessimistic on an underlying stock, i.e. if they expect the stock price to go down moderately, so to profit from such a down market. Thanks to the put-call parity, this strategy can be replicated by taking two opposite positions on the same call option in a similar strategy known as a bear call spread.

The bear put spread is also called a long put spread.