Investors are on edge after the S&P 500 just tracked its worst weekly loss since mid-August. With volatility expected to stay high in anticipation of Wednesday's Fed announcement, one strategist is seeking shelter in a beaten energy stock: Exxon.
"I'm going to go full on contrarian," Boris Schlossberg told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Friday. "I think oil is so hated at this point and nothing is more hated than oil stocks, that I actually really like Exxon."
Exxon shares have fallen nearly 20 percent this year as the collapse crude prices have crippled big oil stocks. Crude has fallen more than 35 percent this year, making energy the worst performing sector of 2015, with the ETF that tracks those stocks, the XLE, down 24 percent.
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"I like the stock for a bounce in the short term," said BK Asset Management's managing director and head of FX strategy. "But I like it even better as an options bet."
Schlossberg said he is willing to sell the February 72.50-strike puts, collecting $1.50 in premium. In this strategy, he can make money even if the stock falls as much as 5 percent from Friday's closing price of just under $74.50.
"If [Exxon shares] fall down to $71 then at least I get to own the stock and I get a [high] dividend yield," he said. ExxonMobil sports a hefty dividend of nearly 4 percent. "I think [the stock] is going to bounce after the short squeeze comes in."
Pointing to another high-yielding stock that's underperformed this year, BTIG technical strategist Katie Stockton said Barbie manufacturer Mattel could generate some serious income for investors.
"Mattel has advanced from a basing phase this month, clearing its 200-day moving average decisively for the first time in almost two years," she said in a "Trading Nation" segment. "Intermediate-term momentum has improved and is on the verge of turning positive."
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Shares of the toymaker have rallied more than 13 percent in the last month while the S&P 500 is down less than 1 percent. The stock also sports a near 6 percent dividend yield.
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