Buy Call XLE

December 6, 2023
Sell Existing Position: Sell your XLE January 85 Calls for $1.25 or more.

While we took really nice partial profits on the first two pieces of our XLE position, time is running out on our final third of our trade. Because of the time component, and the general lack of upside progress in the ETF in the last month, we are going to sell the final piece of the trade today for a loss.

To execute this trade you need to:
Sell to Close your XLE January 85 Call

Please note, it is possible that the XLE will come roaring back to life in the next month. However, I have seen very few signs that is going to happen, and the decay on this position will only accelerate as we get closer to expiration, and for those reasons I am going to sell my position today.

October 18, 2023
Sell a Third of Existing Position: Sell a Third of XLE January 85 Calls for $9 or more.

The XLE is once again approaching recent highs, which is great for our bullish position. Let’s stick to the gameplan, lock in a profit of approximately 65% on another piece of our trade, and then go for the home run on the balance.

To execute this trade you need to:
Sell to Close a Third of your XLE January 85 Call.

The final third of this position we will continue to hold looking for greater gains in the months to come.

July 25, 2023
Sell a Third of Existing Position: Sell a Third of Your XLE January 85 Calls for $6.50 or More.

Starting mid-week last week, and again this morning, the oil sector and the stocks that make up the XLE are being bought aggressively.

While I like the stock strength and the option activity in the group, today we are going to stick to the plan, sell a third of our position for a profit of approximately 20%, and then go for much larger gains in the weeks to come.

To execute this trade you need to:
Sell to Close a Third of Your XLE January 85 Calls

As is always the case when we take partial profits, we hope this initial sale is a mistake and the stock and our calls trade much higher.

July 12, 2023
Buy the Energy Select ETF (XLE) January 85 Calls (exp. 1/19/2024) for $6.20 or less.

Option activity has been running red hot in oil stocks for the last week and a half as the sector has begun to participate in the market’s rally. Here is a small sample of some of those options trades from across the sector:

Buyer of 20,000 Exxon Mobile (XOM) August 110 Calls for $1.20 – Stock at 104
Buyer of 2,000 Exxon Mobil (XOM) September 120 Calls for $0.54 – Stock at 106
Buyer of 4,000 Exxon Mobil (XOM) August 110 Call for $1.45 – Stock at 104.5
Buyer of 3,000 Schlumberger (SLB) November 60 Calls for $3.10 – Stock at 56 (also a buyer of 2,800 August 60 calls and August 62.5 calls)
Buyer of 8,000 BP (BP) July 35.5 Calls for $0.63 – Stock at 35.5
Buyer of 10,000 Transocean (RIG) August 8 Calls for $0.37 – Stock at 7.40
Buyer of 6,000 Transocean (RIG) August 8 Calls for $0.40 – Stock at 7.5

Today let’s get involved with a bullish position in the oil sector via the Energy Select ETF (XLE).

To execute this trade you need to:
Buy to Open the XLE January 85 Call

The most you can lose on this trade is the premium paid, or $620 per call purchased.

The risks I see in this trade are largely market and sector related. And in the case of the sector, this group can get red hot, and ice cold, in the blink of an eye.

That being said, I really like the option action in the sector as well as the recent strength, and to pay $6.20 for an at-the-money call with six months until expiration is a great risk/reward opportunity.