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USO

United States Oil FundClose $128.25EOD only

Max Pain

$123.00

Next expiry Apr 22, 2026

Expected Move

±$7.62

6.0% from close

Price Gap

-5.25

Distance to max pain

IV Rank

Low premium

P/C OI

1.52

Slightly put-heavy

Consensus

6.5/10

Bullish tilt

Published snapshot: Apr 21, 2026 close

End-of-day snapshot

This page reflects USO options positioning from the latest published market-close snapshot. Intraday price and contract changes are not displayed.

Published Snapshot

Apr 21, 2026 close

USO Flow Report

Analysis based on market close April 22, 2026

Directional Theta Gang Flow Earnings Consensus

Historical consensus-supported lens with full content, report chain context, and metric rail.

Flow Verdict

Confidence:

7.5 / 10

base 5; +2 GEX/flow strongly aligned; +1 GEX positive (pinning); -1 spot 5.2% from MP; +0.5 VIX 19

Watch next session: Front-week strike activity (129/124) and IV moves; Net delta/gex shifts and spot drift vs MP; Unusual print fills and size vs OI

Flow Summary

Net premium: +$67.0M bullish

P/C volume ratio: 0.91

P/C OI ratio: 1.45

Options show strong positive gamma and call flow concentration supporting pinning, but significant near-term put activity and put-heavy OI keep overall flow mixed and conditional.

Notable Prints

USO 2026-04-22 $129.00 Put

Vol: 3,969

OI: 162

Vol/OI: 24.5x

IV: 11.9%

Notional: ~$48K

Intent: short-dated hedge or directional sell

Dual read: liquidation vs new protective buy

Read-through: pin risk just below spot

USO 2026-04-22 $127.00 Put

Vol: 3,371

OI: 187

Vol/OI: 18.0x

IV: 18.0%

Notional: ~$7K

Intent: Unclear flow intent

Read-through: Needs contextual interpretation.

USO 2026-05-29 $123.50 Call

Vol: 1,666

OI: 104

Vol/OI: 16.0x

IV: 70.9%

Notional: ~$2.4M

Intent: long call/spec volatility

Dual read: covered-call unwind vs breakout bet

Read-through: bullish longer-term call demand

USO 2026-07-17 $195.00 Call

Vol: 1,501

OI: 101

Vol/OI: 14.9x

IV: 73.0%

Notional: ~$531K

Intent: Unclear flow intent

Read-through: Needs contextual interpretation.

USO 2026-04-24 $129.00 Call

Vol: 5,423

OI: 368

Vol/OI: 14.7x

IV: 60.3%

Notional: ~$1.7M

Intent: Unclear flow intent

Read-through: Needs contextual interpretation.

Institutional Positioning

Call additions: Short‑dated calls concentrated 124–134 Apr24 and 123–123.5 May29; some long‑dated calls (e.g., 195 Jul) have low OI and likely limited near‑term impact.

Put additions: Short‑dated puts clustered 124–129 (Apr22–24) with notable OI at 124P Apr24 (958) and 128–129P Apr22 (620/162); could reflect directional bets or hedges.

GEX/DEX consistency: GEX +$79.3M and DEX +$37.9M are consistent with call‑skewed flow but do not prove causal pinning.

OI clusters: Largest OI concentrations: 124P Apr24=958, 128P Apr22=620, 129C Apr22=486, 134C Apr24=421.

Hedging evidence: Elevated IV and mixed stacks are consistent with some hedging (collars/puts) but evidence is mixed; delta‑hedging or retail flow could also explain patterns.

Max pain context: Spot sits above theoretical MP; concentrated short‑dated OI near spot raises pin risk as one plausible outcome, but limited OI and opposing forces mean the path is uncertain.

Signal vs Noise

~Signal: concentrated short‑dated 124–129 OI and volume suggest potential pinning pressure but not definitive.

~Signal: positive GEX/DEX support a call‑heavy footprint, aligning with potential pin behavior.

~Noise: isolated long‑dated high‑IV calls likely have limited immediate impact; retail/directional bets could drive short moves.

Key Conclusions

⚠️Concentrated 124–129 short‑dated OI raises plausible pin risk into Apr24, though causation is uncertain (hedges vs directional/retail flows).

🔁GEX +$79M and DEX +$37M reinforce a call‑skewed landscape but do not on their own confirm imminent pinning.

How to Use These Reports

This flow reflects the market close on April 22, 2026.

What the reports do

Each report translates the same market-close options snapshot into a specific lens such as directional bias, premium-selling posture, flow quality, or earnings setup.

How traders use them

Reports are most useful for narrowing the playbook, surfacing entry and risk context, and deciding which raw data page to inspect next.

What to remember

These are interpretation layers, not execution guarantees. Validate the setup against chain liquidity, expected move, and exposure before sizing risk.

If the report conviction and the raw data disagree, slow down and resolve the mismatch before sizing risk.