Energy stocks have followed oil higher over the past few weeks, and one technical-minded trader thinks the runup will continue.
"Crude oil's looking good as the stock index has moved into all-time high territory," Todd Gordon of TradingAnalysis.com said Friday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "Plus, we have the U.S. dollar starting to move lower following weak retail sales."
All in all, "it looks like the best sector to play right now is energy."
The XLE ETF, which tracks the energy sector, has rallied steadily since January and is now up almost 14 percent year to date. This is in sharp contrast to 2014 and 2015, when the XLE slid 10.6 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively.
Gordon sees a further push higher in the cards for XLE, which opened Friday trading at $68.50.
"I think the time is near to move into the next zone of resistance, which is around the $75 mark," he said. "So we have $70 that's set to break, and the next target in sight would be $75."
Gordon wants to buy the September 70-strike calls and sell the September 75-strike calls for 79 cents, or $79 per options contract. If XLE closes trading on Sept. 16 at or above $75, Gordon stands to make a profit of $421 per contract. Since his $79 would become $500, that would represent a profit of 533 percent.
But Gordon has also planned out what he will do if the chart doesn't go his way.
"If XLE were to break back below $67, I'm going to get out of this trade and protect what premium we have left to protect that risk," he said.
