USO wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
United States Oil Fund, LP · ETFs · $146.07 close on Nov 12, 2026
What the Nov 12, 2026 close says about USO
At 47.6% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $21.83 (14.9%) in USO by Dec 18, 2026, 36 days out.
Selling the $136 put (−0.29Δ) for $4.41 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $131.59, 9.9% below the $146.07 close.
The 64-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.1× the premium of the 36-day one for 1.8× the time — more premium per day on the 36-day contract ($0.123 vs $0.074).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 3.24% on its strike and the call 2.73% on spot: puts pay 1.2× what calls do on USO this session.
Moving down to the $130 put (−0.19Δ) buys 4.1% more room below spot and keeps 58% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 155,688 contracts; the largest single line is the $120 put expiring Jan 15 with 10,617 (6.8% of the window).
By options volume USO ranks #37 of 679 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (8.9k) is 1172% above its 5-session average.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on USO
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $136 | −0.29 | $4.41 Nov 12 | $441.00 | $13,600 | 3.24% | 32.9% | $131.59 | 432 | 21 |
| 0.20Δ | $130 | −0.19 | $2.55 Nov 12 | $255.00 | $13,000 | 1.96% | 19.9% | $127.45 | 7,248 | 446 |
Snapshot #9540 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $131 | −0.25 | $4.75 Nov 12 | $475.00 | $13,100 | 3.63% | 20.7% | $126.25 | 421 | 35 |
| 0.20Δ | $127 | −0.21 | $4.04 Nov 12 | $404.00 | $12,700 | 3.18% | 18.1% | $122.96 | 202 | 20 |
Snapshot #9540 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 64
Covered calls on USO
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $161 | 0.30 | $3.99 Nov 12 | $399.00 | 2.73% | 27.7% | 12.95% | 131.3% | 343 | 47 |
| 0.20Δ | $170 | 0.20 | $2.50 Nov 12 | $250.00 | 1.71% | 17.4% | 18.09% | 183.5% | 3,429 | 384 |
Snapshot #9540 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $165 | 0.32 | $5.68 Nov 12 | $568.00 | 3.89% | 22.2% | 16.85% | 96.1% | 2,236 | 51 |
| 0.20Δ | $185 | 0.17 | $2.85 Nov 12 | $285.00 | 1.95% | 11.1% | 28.60% | 163.1% | 2,679 | 202 |
Snapshot #9540 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 64
USO volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 47.6%session 2026-11-12
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Nov 9, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 155,688 contractssession 2026-11-12
- Largest open-interest line
- $120 put · Jan 15 · 10,617
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #37 of 679 optionable names by options volume
How these numbers are made
One end-of-day snapshot per session from a 15-minute-delayed feed. A premium is a contract’s last trade, used only if it printed that session, sits above intrinsic value and is in order with its neighbours; deltas are the feed’s own. Expiries are the first at least 30 and 60 days out, and nothing under 30 days is annualized. Not investment advice. Full methodology.
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (34 of 252 sessions so far); IV rank and percentile need a full year of it.
- Our data provider does not license announced earnings dates, and we do not publish estimates.
- Our data feed carries last trades, not live bid/ask quotes, so we cannot show a spread.