Never hold an unhedged postion in a down market. Use simple "collar" strategy as defense (sell covered calls AND buy puts at the same time), it works very well to protect in the down trend market.
You can take some winners off the table in a timely fashion and wait patiently for the rebound to long short term calls to amplify profit.
Hedge by using ETFs such as DXD, SDS and QID also work.
