“The U.S. Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) saw its lowest close in eight months Friday, while the big option trade of the day was in the puts, it may have been calling a bottom. The (USO) fell another 3.65 percent to close out the week at $34.81. Shares were near 52 week highs near $42 just two weeks ago and have now posted their lowest close since September 2009,” Option Monster Reports.

Option Monster goes on to say, “The big trade was 16,000 of the October 36/33 put spread. Two blocks of 8,000 October 33 puts traded for $2.50 and two blocks of the October 36 contracts traded for $3.97 and $3.95. The volume was well above open interest at both strikes. The trade appears to have been sold as a credit spread that would take in the credit of $1.45, which would be kept if shares are back above $36 at expiration. The spread may also have been traded against another position either in the (USO) or in oil futures.”

Here are some more details on the U.S. Oil ETF (NYSE:USO)  including a snapshot of the options activity:

United States Oil ETF (NYSE:USO)

The United States Oil Fund, LP (“USO”) is a domestic exchange traded security designed to track the movements of light, sweet crude oil (“West Texas Intermediate”). USO issues units that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.

The investment objective of USO is for the changes in percentage terms of its units’ net asset value (“NAV”) to reflect the changes in percentage terms of the spot price of light, sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma, as measured by the changes in the price of the futures contract for light, sweet crude oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”), less USO’s expenses.

Strike Symbol Last Chg Bid Ask Vol Open Int 20.00 UBO101016P00020000 0.10 0.00 N/A N/A 0 1,307 20.00 USO101016P00020000 0.10 0.00 0.16 0.19 0 1,307 21.00 UBO101016P00021000 0.11 0.00 N/A N/A 0 1,122 21.00 USO101016P00021000 0.11 0.00 0.20 0.23 0 1,122 22.00 UBO101016P00022000 0.18 0.00 N/A N/A 4 1,276 22.00 USO101016P00022000 0.18 0.00 0.26 0.29 4 1,272 23.00 USO101016P00023000 0.06 0.00 0.33 0.37 0 867 24.00 UBO101016P00024000 0.36 0.00 N/A N/A 1 786 24.00 USO101016P00024000 0.36 0.00 0.45 0.47 1 785 25.00 UBO101016P00025000 0.49 0.00 N/A N/A 242 931 25.00 USO101016P00025000 0.49 0.00 0.56 0.59 242 928 26.00 UBO101016P00026000 0.58 0.00 N/A N/A 130 495 26.00 USO101016P00026000 0.58 0.00 0.71 0.74 130 500 27.00 USO101016P00027000 0.87 0.11 0.88 0.92 3 355 28.00 UBO101016P00028000 0.91 0.00 N/A N/A 3 402 28.00 USO101016P00028000 0.97 0.06 1.10 1.13 0 401 29.00 UBO101016P00029000 1.12 0.00 N/A N/A 348 729 29.00 USO101016P00029000 1.29 0.17 1.34 1.38 40 535 30.00 UBO101016P00030000 1.41 0.00 N/A N/A 117 734 30.00 USO101016P00030000 1.54 0.13 1.63 1.67 3,190 696 31.00 USO101016P00031000 1.96 0.27 1.97 2.01 18 741 32.00 UBO101016P00032000 2.02 0.00 N/A N/A 157 2,973 32.00 USO101016P00032000 2.35 0.33 2.36 2.40 125 2,866 33.00 UBO101016P00033000 2.50 0.00 N/A N/A 16,047 16,616 33.00 USO101016P00033000 2.77 0.27 2.81 2.86 30 3,000 34.00 UBO101016P00034000 2.93 0.00 N/A N/A 1,165 14,498 34.00 USO101016P00034000 3.20 0.27 3.30 3.35 55 14,008 35.00 USO101016P00035000 3.90 0.45 3.80 3.90 42 3,312 36.00 UBO101016P00036000 3.95 0.00 N/A N/A 16,521 16,869 36.00 USO101016P00036000 4.20 0.25 4.40 4.50 20 9,172 37.00 UBO101016P00037000 4.55 0.00 N/A N/A 16 1,868 37.00 USO101016P00037000 4.55 0.00 5.05 5.15 16 1,867 38.00 USO101016P00038000 5.70 0.40 5.75 5.85 1 2,374 39.00 UBO101016P00039000 5.90 0.00 N/A N/A 458 5,403 39.00 USO101016P00039000 6.31 0.41 6.50 6.65 20 5,340 40.00 USO101016P00040000 6.30 0.00 7.25 7.35 1 5,762 41.00 USO101016P00041000 5.81 0.00 8.05 8.20 0 1,159 42.00 USO101016P00042000 6.60 0.00 8.85 9.00 0 354 43.00 USO101016P00043000 7.90 0.00 9.70 9.90 0 189 44.00 USO101016P00044000 4.80 0.00 10.40 10.85 0 153 45.00 USO101016P00045000 10.70 0.00 11.30 11.70 3 180 46.00 USO101016P00046000 6.26 0.00 12.20 12.70 0 174 47.00 USO101016P00047000 7.20 0.00 13.15 13.55 0 141 48.00 USO101016P00048000 9.00 0.00 14.10 14.55 0 110 49.00 USO101016P00049000 8.55 0.00 15.05 15.45 0 196 50.00 USO101016P00050000 10.90 0.00 16.00 16.50 0 128 51.00 USO101016P00051000 11.75 0.00 17.10 17.45 0 167 52.00 USO101016P00052000 12.60 0.00 18.05 18.40 0 82 54.00 USO101016P00054000 14.30 0.00 20.25 20.35 0 47 55.00 USO101016P00055000 14.75 0.00 21.15 21.35 0 55 56.00 USO101016P00056000 15.85 0.00 22.15 22.30 0 48 58.00 USO101016P00058000 18.00 0.00 24.10 24.25 0 12

USO