USO Short Volume
United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management industry, with a market capitalization near $15.16B, listed on AMEX, carrying a beta of 2.22 to the broader market. USO delivers its exposure to oil using near-term futures. Led by John Love, public since 2006-04-10.
Short volume measures the number of shares sold short on a given day as reported by FINRA. Tracking short volume relative to total volume helps identify unusual bearish sentiment or short-squeeze potential.
- Latest Date
- 2026-08-14
- Short Volume
- 800.9K
- Total Volume
- 1.4M
- Short %
- 57.45%
- 30-Day Avg Short %
- 51.63%
Showing 30 days of FINRA short volume data for United States Oil Fund, LP.
Learn how short volume is reported and how to read the data →
USO most-active contracts
| Type | Strike | Expiration | Volume | OI | IV | Bid | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CALL | $145.00 | Aug 19, 2026 | 4.3K | 256 | 59.0% | $0.08 | $0.15 |
| CALL | $138.00 | Aug 21, 2026 | 2.7K | 171 | 52.4% | $0.48 | $0.60 |
| CALL | $127.00 | Aug 21, 2026 | 5.7K | 392 | 47.2% | $2.98 | $3.15 |
| CALL | $131.00 | Aug 21, 2026 | 2.0K | 156 | 48.4% | $1.57 | $1.76 |
Top 4 contracts from the institutional-grade nightly options scan; ranked by volume within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.
Frequently asked USO short volume questions
- What is the daily USO short volume?
- As of Aug 14, 2026, United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) short volume is 800.9K shares against 1.4M total reported volume, or 57.45% short-side. Short volume measures shares sold short during the day; it is flow, not inventory.
- How is USO short volume reported?
- FINRA publishes the Daily Short Sale Volume File for trades reported to FINRA TRFs and the FINRA/Nasdaq ADF on a T+1 basis. The headline figure is the count of shares that printed at the short-sale or short-exempt tick across all reporting venues for the symbol; each exchange separately publishes its own daily short-sale data file.
- What does USO short volume tell options traders?
- Daily short-sale flow is one input that helps disambiguate dealer-hedging activity from directional bear flow when the chain shows fresh customer call inventory. It is not a clean MM-only proxy: the headline number mixes directional shorting, options-MM delta-hedging, ETF-creation arbitrage, and convertible-arb hedging. Cross-check against gamma-exposure and OI changes for a cleaner read.