Forget USO. Copper Is the New Crude, and This Miner Fund Is Up 115% in a Year

The United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA:USO) does 1 thing: it gives investors a liquid mode to stake connected West Texas Intermediate crude without opening a futures account. That inferior is real, which is wherefore USO inactive attracts superior each clip a Middle East header crosses the wire. Holders are paying for directional crude exposure, and connected a year-to-date basis, USO has delivered, returning 60.89% done June 23 arsenic WTI swung from $55.44 successful December 2025 to a $114.58 highest successful April 2026. The question is whether crude is inactive the close commodity to ain erstwhile the structural request communicative has shifted to different metal.

Where USO Underperforms

Holding front-month WTI futures and rolling them guardant exposes shareholders to contango whenever the curve slopes upward. The ETF besides issues a K-1 astatine taxation time, which complicates filings for anyone holding it successful a taxable account. The bigger issue, though, is the underlying commodity itself. WTI fell 22.3% implicit the past period to $84.65 connected June 15, and the 12-month mean terms sits astatine $73.15. Crude lipid remains a geopolitical instrumentality astatine this point, and it is nary longer a secular maturation commercialized you tin conscionable bargain and clasp done immoderate environment.

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Copper Has Taken Over the Demand Story

The Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:COPX) holds 46 copper mining positions and charges a 0.65% disbursal ratio connected $7.71 cardinal successful assets. The one-year full instrumentality done June 21 was +108%, though a crisp two-day selloff has trimmed the trailing 12-month fig to 92.29% arsenic of June 23. That is backward-looking and reflects a cyclical assemblage astatine the apical of its range. The structural lawsuit sits underneath it.

Copper request is projected to emergence materially done 2040, driven by grid buildout, EVs, defense, and AI information centers. The U.S. added copper to the USGS Critical Minerals list. Concentrate markets stay exceptionally tight, with attraction and refining charges compressed sharply this year.