Hey,
Charles here.
Licia Leslie is back with her weekly One to Love, One to Leave. And this week's picks sit on opposite sides of the same question: what happens when hype meets reality?
On the call side, she found a stock that does something no other American company can do at scale. The kind of business where the moat isn't a software patent or a brand name. It's a mine. In California. With U.S. government backing. Good luck replicating that with a chatbot.
On the put side, she's targeting a name that rallied hard on war headlines and AI buzz but just printed a bearish candle on a day when everything else was green. That's the chart screaming something the bulls don't want to hear.
Here's Licia with the breakdown.
Hi Traders,
My favorite stock for calls this week is MP Materials (MP):
The stock gapped up back into my pitchfork and closed above the 20-day moving average.
RSI has been bullish and MACD is just now turning bullish.
My price target is at the 50-day moving average, currently $57.48.
I like the Apr 24, 2026 55 calls around three dollars. Use a close below the 20-day moving average as your stop loss.
MP is America's leading (and only scaled) producer of rare earth materials. It owns and operates the Mountain Pass mine in California – the only active rare earth mine and processing facility in the United States.
Rare earth elements (especially neodymium-praseodymium or NdPr) are critical for high-strength permanent magnets used in:
- Electric vehicles (EVs)
- Wind turbines
- Robotics
- Defense applications
- Drones and other advanced tech
They are building out a fully integrated supply chain in the U.S., including magnet manufacturing in Texas, to reduce reliance on China (which dominates global rare earth processing).
The stock for puts this week is Palantir Technologies (PLTR):
Look at that giant red bearish engulfing candle on Wednesday, on massive volume, which was a huge rally day in the overall market.
Wait for confirmation of the stock trading lower than Wednesday's close before entering your put position.
My stock price target is $127.53.
Take a look at the Apr 17, 2026 ten-point-wide put vertical trading right at the money. Pay right around three dollars. You double your money.
As your stop loss, set a stock close right around two dollars higher than where you entered.
Palantir builds data integration, analytics, and AI platforms that act as "operating systems" for large organizations. It helps customers (governments, militaries, and enterprises) connect siloed data sources, analyze massive datasets in real time, and make operational decisions with AI assistance. The name comes from the "seeing stones" in Lord of the Rings.
Their key products are Gotham, Foundry, AIP and Apollo.
Trade Accordingly,
Licia Leslie
So there it is: A rare earth miner backed by the U.S. government on one side. A 200-times-earnings AI stock printing bearish candles on green days on the other.
Licia's charts don't lie and they don't care about your feelings.
The real question: will the team choose one of Licia's picks on Monday?
Join the Ticker Highlight Show Premium before Monday at 10:30 AM ET to find out.
See you there,
Charles Delvalle
Managing Editor, Option Pit