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 August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 31.20%), the computed maximum profit is $102.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$4,696.50 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 $46.98 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The USL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 8.94%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current USL implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?

USL ATM IV is at 31.20% with IV rank near 22.32%, 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.

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) operates as an exchange-traded product. Its primary objective is to mirror the daily price changes of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light, sweet crude oil. Units of USL are available for public trading, allowing investors to buy and sell them on the NYSE Arca exchange.

USL (United States 12 Month Oil Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $41.3M, a beta of 1.36 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 32.25-56.75, average daily share volume of 22K, 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 1.36 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.

USL snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $50.72, ATM IV 31.20%, IV rank 22.32%, expected move 8.94%. The cash-secured put on USL below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.

Why this cash-secured put structure on USL specifically: USL IV at 31.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling USL cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.94% (roughly $4.54 on the underlying). The 35-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 $50.72 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 August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With USL at $50.72 on that close, the first option leg uses a $48.00 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 35-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	$48.00	$1.03

USL cash-secured put risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: +$102.50
Max Profit (per contract): $102.50
Max Loss (per contract): -$4,696.50
Breakeven(s): $46.98
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.022

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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	-$4,696.50
$11.22	-77.9%	-$3,575.16
$22.44	-55.8%	-$2,453.83
$33.65	-33.7%	-$1,332.49
$44.86	-11.5%	-$211.15
$56.08	+10.6%	+$102.50
$67.29	+32.7%	+$102.50
$78.50	+54.8%	+$102.50
$89.72	+76.9%	+$102.50
$100.93	+99.0%	+$102.50

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 $46.18 on the downside to $55.26 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 22.32% 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 USL at 31.20%. 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 at $50.72 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed USL chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's 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 August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 31.20%), the computed maximum profit is $102.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$4,696.50 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 $46.98 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The USL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 8.94%; 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 31.20% with IV rank near 22.32%, 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.