Profiting from oil going up or down

Oil has been trading in cycles of roughly 10 to 12 weeks (video). One way to profit from oil going up or down is through the use of options straddles and strangles.

Here are February straddles and strangles for USO, the popular oil ETF

The table above shows the maximum moves required for each position to achieve profitability, as well as the number of options to buy calls and puts) for a $2,000 investment in each position. The positions are 37-37, 38-36, and 39-35.

Actual moves needed may be smaller as there are still 17 days to expiration. So, if an investors believes oil will move 4 to 7%, either way, these are good ways to do it.

These options were computed with the Straddles Calc online tool.

Please do your own due diligence as options are very risky.