USG Covered Call Strategy
USG (USCF Gold Strategy Plus Income Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The fund adviser seeks to achieve its investment objective by maintaining substantial economic exposure to the performance of the physical gold and gold futures markets (the “Gold Markets”). The fund will only invest in COMEX Gold Warrants and gold futures through the subsidiary. The fund is non-diversified.
USG (USCF Gold Strategy Plus Income Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $12.7M, a beta of 0.03 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 32.69-44.178, average daily share volume of 6K, a public-listing history dating back to 2021. These structural characteristics shape how USG etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.03 indicates USG has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. USG pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on USG?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current USG snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $36.33, ATM IV 35.10%, IV rank 25.00%, expected move 10.06%. The covered call on USG below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this covered call structure on USG specifically: USG IV at 35.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling USG covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.06% (roughly $3.66 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated USG expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on USG should anchor to the underlying notional of $36.33 per share and to the trader's directional view on USG etf.
USG covered call setup
The USG covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With USG near $36.33, the first option leg uses a $38.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed USG chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 USG shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $36.33 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $38.00 | $0.91 |
USG covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$3,542.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $258.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$3,541.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $35.42
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.073
Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
USG covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on USG. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$3,541.00 |
| $8.04 | -77.9% | -$2,737.83 |
| $16.07 | -55.8% | -$1,934.67 |
| $24.10 | -33.6% | -$1,131.50 |
| $32.14 | -11.5% | -$328.34 |
| $40.17 | +10.6% | +$258.00 |
| $48.20 | +32.7% | +$258.00 |
| $56.23 | +54.8% | +$258.00 |
| $64.26 | +76.9% | +$258.00 |
| $72.29 | +99.0% | +$258.00 |
When traders use covered call on USG
Covered calls on USG are an income strategy run on existing USG etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
USG thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for USG extends from approximately $32.67 on the downside to $39.99 on the upside. A USG covered call collects premium on an existing long USG position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether USG will breach that level within the expiration window. Current USG IV rank near 25.00% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on USG at 35.10%. As a Financial Services name, USG options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to USG-specific events.
USG covered call positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. USG positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move USG alongside the broader basket even when USG-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on USG carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical USG earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current USG chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on USG?
- A covered call on USG is the covered call strategy applied to USG (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With USG etf trading near $36.33, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed USG chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are USG covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the USG covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 35.10%), the computed maximum profit is $258.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$3,541.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a USG covered call?
- The breakeven for the USG covered call priced on this page is roughly $35.42 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current USG market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.06%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on USG?
- Covered calls on USG are an income strategy run on existing USG etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current USG implied volatility affect this covered call?
- USG ATM IV is at 35.10% with IV rank near 25.00%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.