      If you are short stock, there is a third advantage. Because of theuptick rule, it is often hard to get short stock when the market istanking. By putting on a spread trade, you can (sort of) trade out of yourposition without exiting it. The difference is that your risk is notcompletely mitigated when you spread trade. The good news is that you havenot mitigated all of your profit potential. Therefore, the risk associatedwith initiating a spread trade versus exiting your long position is offsetby the fact that you can still profit on the trade.