USO wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
United States Oil Fund, LP · ETFs · $150.01 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about USO
At 52.7% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $23.39 (15.6%) in USO by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $141 put (−0.31Δ) for $5.35 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $135.65, 9.6% below the $150.01 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.3× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.167 vs $0.086).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 3.79% on its strike and the call 2.43% on spot: puts pay 1.6× what calls do on USO this session.
Moving down to the $134 put (−0.21Δ) buys 4.7% more room below spot and keeps 57% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 111,439 contracts; the largest single line is the $100 put expiring Dec 18 with 10,624 (9.5% of the window).
By options volume USO ranks #29 of 441 names in our universe.
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 | $141 | −0.31 | $5.35 Sep 28 | $535.00 | $14,100 | 3.79% | 43.3% | $135.65 | 204 | 64 |
| 0.20Δ | $134 | −0.21 | $3.07 Sep 28 | $307.00 | $13,400 | 2.29% | 26.1% | $130.93 | 18 | 47 |
Snapshot #267 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:42 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 32
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $137 | −0.30 | $7.00 Sep 28 | $700.00 | $13,700 | 5.11% | 23.0% | $130.00 | 320 | 11 |
| 0.20Δ | $125 | −0.18 | $3.91 Sep 28 | $391.00 | $12,500 | 3.13% | 14.1% | $121.09 | 1,883 | 307 |
Snapshot #267 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:42 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on USO
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $165 | 0.30 | $3.65 Sep 28 | $365.00 | 2.43% | 27.8% | 12.43% | 141.7% | 1,103 | 1,097 |
| 0.20Δ | $175 | 0.19 | $2.28 Sep 28 | $228.00 | 1.52% | 17.3% | 18.18% | 207.4% | 869 | 10 |
Snapshot #267 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:42 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 32
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
| 0.20Δ | $195 | 0.19 | $3.55 Sep 28 | $355.00 | 2.37% | 10.7% | 32.36% | 145.8% | 483 | 8 |
Snapshot #267 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:42 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
USO volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 52.7%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 111,439 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $100 put · Dec 18 · 10,624
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #29 of 441 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.
- No contract near 0.30Δ traded this session
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (1 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.