Long-frustrated investors in financial stocks are about to enjoy their moment in the sun, according to chart-focused trader Todd Gordon of TradingAnalysis.com
"Financials have been underperforming for a long period of time and just in the last month or so we're starting to see those financials catch up to the likes of consumer discretionary and technology," Gordon said Friday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."
The financials-tracking exchange-traded fund XLF rose more than 1.5 percent on Friday after the jobs report crushed expectations, sending interest rates higher, and potentially making a Federal Reserve rate hike more likely. This would be good news for the financials, which have long been feeling the pain of low rates.
After Friday's rise, the sector turned narrowly positive on the year, while the as a whole is up nearly 7 percent.
Turning to the charts, Gordon says that the XLF has recently made an "inverse head and shoulders" pattern, "which does indicate underlying strength."
"I think we are set to launch from this zone of resistance," Gordon said.
To capitalize on this move, he recommends buying the September 23-strike call for $1.12. This trade will turn a profit if the XLF closes above $24.12 in mid-September, when the options expire.
"[I'd] like to use the leverage of the options market to establish a long position," Gordon said.
