USL Iron Condor 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 iron condor on USL?
An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes.
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 iron condor 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 iron condor structure on USL specifically: USL IV at 50.10% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a USL iron condor 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 iron condor setup
The USL iron condor 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 $58.00 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 | Call | $58.00 | $2.20 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $60.00 | $1.68 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $53.00 | $2.15 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $50.00 | $1.45 |
USL iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$122.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $122.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$177.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $51.78, $59.23
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.690
Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit.
USL iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor 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% | -$177.50 |
| $12.24 | -77.9% | -$177.50 |
| $24.46 | -55.8% | -$177.50 |
| $36.69 | -33.7% | -$177.50 |
| $48.91 | -11.5% | -$177.50 |
| $61.14 | +10.6% | -$77.50 |
| $73.37 | +32.7% | -$77.50 |
| $85.59 | +54.8% | -$77.50 |
| $97.82 | +76.9% | -$77.50 |
| $110.04 | +99.0% | -$77.50 |
When traders use iron condor on USL
Iron condors on USL are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if USL etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
USL thesis for this iron condor
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 iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when USL stays inside the inner short strikes through expiration; the wing width should reflect the trader's tolerance for the maximum loss scenario where the underlying breaches an outer strike. Current USL IV rank near 35.09% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the iron condor 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 iron condor positions are structurally neutral / range-bound; 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 iron condor 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 iron condor on USL?
- A iron condor on USL is the iron condor strategy applied to USL (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / range-bound: An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes. 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 iron condor max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit. For the USL iron condor priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 50.10%), the computed maximum profit is $122.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$177.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a USL iron condor?
- The breakeven for the USL iron condor priced on this page is roughly $51.78 and $59.23 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 iron condor on USL?
- Iron condors on USL are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if USL etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current USL implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- 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.