LEAPS are longer-term puts or calls with expirations of between nine months and two and a half years.  Put LEAPS can be attractive as portfolio hedges because they lose time premium at a much slower rate than do shorter-term puts.  In our screening we looked for puts that are based on stocks expected to do worse than the market, and that are underpriced (according to our model) and offer greater than 2 to 1 leverage on a downward move in the stock.  (That is, if the stock falls 10%, the LEAP gains more than 20%.)  Selecting the most underpriced LEAPS per underlying stock, our screening came up with 24 LEAPS on 14 stocks, among them:

AK Steel Holdings Corporation (AKS) is the leading manufacturer of high-strength, low-carbon flat-rolled steel products, the largest segment of the domestic steel market. The company focuses on the production of premium-quality coated, cold rolled and hot rolled carbon steel, primarily for sale to the auto, appliance, construction, and manufacturing markets. The company also cold rolls and aluminum coats stainless steel for automotive industry customers.

Arkansas Best Corporation (ABFS) is engaged in less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carriage through its ABF Freight System subsidiary. The company has made several acquisitions over the years, including Clipper Group in 1994 and WorldWay in 1995. It also sold its truckload and logistics operations in 1997, Clipper International in 1999, G.I. Trucking in 2001, and Clipper Exxpress in 2006.

Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (CDE), through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation, ownership, development, and exploration of silver and gold mining properties and companies. The firm is primarily a silver producer, but also has significant gold assets located in North America. Too, the company explores for lead and zinc in its properties. Coeur d’Alene markets refined metal and ore to credit worthy bullion trading houses, market makers and members of the London Bullion Market Association, industrial companies, and sound financial institutions. It operates mining properties and companies located mainly within South America (Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia), Mexico (Chihuahua), United States (Nevada and Alaska), and Australia (New South Wales).

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) provides network data centers and services to enterprises, content companies, systems integrators, and the world's largest network providers. Through its Internet Business Exchange (IBX) hubs in North America (61% of 2009 revenue), Europe (26%), and Asia-Pacific (13%), its customers can interconnect with each other for critical traffic exchange requirements. As of December, 2009, Equinix had 2,612 customers worldwide and about 1,300 employees.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) uses drug discovery technologies to develop small molecule drugs that treat major medical problems such as viral, autoimmune, inflammatory, and neurological diseases, as well as cancer. Its product pipeline consists of several candidates currently being developed. Additionally, the company has collaborative pacts with several major drug companies. Vertex sold royalty rights of Agenerase (amprenavir) and Lexiva, both HIV protease inhibitors, in June, 2008.