By Barrie Einarson | Trade Ideas

Today’s What Makes This Trade Great isn’t about a single entry or exit—it’s about price behavior and what the market is telling us in real time. To Subscribe to Trade Ideas:
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Over the weekend, geopolitical news out of Venezuela put energy stocks in focus. As expected, the Energy ETF (XLE) reacted immediately. But what stood out to me wasn’t just the initial strength—it was how the sector behaved once the market opened.

The Open Told the Story

At the open, XLE sold off with the broader market. Then it popped. After that, we saw a small pullback. That drop → pop → pause sequence is something I pay close attention to because it often shows a market deciding whether a move is headline-driven or ready for continuation.

When I started looking at individual energy names inside XLE, the picture became even clearer. Several stocks were moving almost exactly the same way.

Energy Stocks Moving in Sync

Names like SLB showed very similar action—early weakness, followed by a sharp push higher, then some hesitation. When you see that kind of uniform movement across a sector, it tells you institutions are reacting to the same catalyst.

The key question now isn’t whether energy reacted to the news—we already know that. The question is:

Does this move hold, or does it fade?

What I’m Watching Next

For the rest of the week, my focus is simple:

• Do energy stocks continue to push higher?
• Or does the momentum stall once the news impact settles?

This isn’t about a bounce or a recovery—it’s about follow-through. If XLE and its components can hold these levels and grind higher, that’s meaningful. If not, this may end up being a short-term reaction rather than a sustained move.

Either way, energy remains firmly on my radar.