The Options Insider Radio Network Options Boot Camp 382: Ways To Play the Oil Madness
Mar 18, 2026
High-energy breakdown of trading oil markets, from WTI and Brent futures advantages to the quirks of futures-linked ETFs. A look at USO’s design problems and the 2020 fallout. Discussion of using XLE or majors like Chevron as equity surrogates. A tour of volatility plays tied to geopolitical risk and how traders hedge or generate income around crude swings.
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WTI Futures Deliver Direct OneToOne Exposure
- Trading WTI futures gives near one-to-one exposure to crude because you're trading the underlying product itself.
- Mark Longo notes WTI options/futures are extremely liquid, recently exceeding a million option contracts weekly on CME.
USO Tracks Futures But Suffers Roll Yield
- USO is an ETF that uses near‑month WTI futures so it trades in your securities account but doesn't perfectly track crude.
- Mark Longo explains roll yield and contango/backwardation cause persistent tracking differences and make USO a trading, not buy‑and‑hold, vehicle.
USO Reverse Split Memory From April 2020
- Dan Passarelli recalls getting burned by USO during April 2020 when oil briefly traded negative and USO did a reverse split.
- Mark confirms USO did an eight‑for‑reverse split on April 29, 2020 after its price collapsed.