USL Cash-Secured Put Strategy
USL (United States 12 Month Oil Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP (USL) is an exchange-traded security that is designed to track the daily price movements of West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") light, sweet crude oil. USL issues shares that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.
USL (United States 12 Month Oil Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $49.2M, a beta of 1.38 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 32.25-55.62, average daily share volume of 56K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007. These structural characteristics shape how USL etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.38 indicates USL has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a cash-secured put on USL?
A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike.
Current USL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $55.30, ATM IV 50.10%, IV rank 35.09%, expected move 14.36%. The cash-secured put on USL 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 cash-secured put structure on USL specifically: USL IV at 50.10% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a USL cash-secured put sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.36% (roughly $7.94 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 USL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on USL should anchor to the underlying notional of $55.30 per share and to the trader's directional view on USL etf.
USL cash-secured put setup
The USL cash-secured put below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With USL near $55.30, the first option leg uses a $53.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed USL 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 USL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $53.00 | $2.15 |
USL cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$215.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $215.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$5,084.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $50.85
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.042
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
USL cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on USL. 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% | -$5,084.00 |
| $12.24 | -77.9% | -$3,861.40 |
| $24.46 | -55.8% | -$2,638.79 |
| $36.69 | -33.7% | -$1,416.19 |
| $48.91 | -11.5% | -$193.59 |
| $61.14 | +10.6% | +$215.00 |
| $73.37 | +32.7% | +$215.00 |
| $85.59 | +54.8% | +$215.00 |
| $97.82 | +76.9% | +$215.00 |
| $110.04 | +99.0% | +$215.00 |
When traders use cash-secured put on USL
Cash-secured puts on USL earn premium while a trader waits to acquire USL etf at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning USL.
USL thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for USL extends from approximately $47.36 on the downside to $63.24 on the upside. A USL cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire USL at the strike price; the strategy is most attractive when the trader is comfortable holding the underlying at that level and IV is rich enough to compensate for the assignment risk. Current USL IV rank near 35.09% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the cash-secured put thesis on USL should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, USL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to USL-specific events.
USL cash-secured put 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. USL positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move USL alongside the broader basket even when USL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on USL carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical USL earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current USL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on USL?
- A cash-secured put on USL is the cash-secured put strategy applied to USL (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike. With USL etf trading near $55.30, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed USL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are USL cash-secured put max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the USL cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 50.10%), the computed maximum profit is $215.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$5,084.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a USL cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the USL cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $50.85 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 USL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.36%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a cash-secured put on USL?
- Cash-secured puts on USL earn premium while a trader waits to acquire USL etf at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning USL.
- How does current USL implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- USL ATM IV is at 50.10% with IV rank near 35.09%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.