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LivestreamMenuThe broader market has been oddly quiet lately. The SPDR S & P 500 ETF (SPY) has spent the past three weeks chopping between roughly $735 and $755, while the CBOE Volatility Index ( VIX) sits near 18, nothing close to panic. So when a stock takes a real beating right now, it isn’t the tape dragging it down, it’s on its own. That’s exactly what happened to Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) . The company actually beat on both lines on July 16, delivering earnings per share of $2.80 versus $2.41 expected, and revenue up 18.5% year over year to $2.89 billion. Yet the stock got hammered the very next day because of cautious guidance around procedure growth plus a Class II recall tied to some Da Vinci components. Tuesday, ISRG is up 5.7% to $356.83, and that move lines up with my indicators. Accelerated MACD (5, 13, 5). I prefer this faster setting to catch momentum pivots early. The blue line crossed above the yellow signal line this morning, right as the stock ripped higher. One thing worth flagging: the MACD line itself is still sitting around -16, deep negative territory even after the cross. That tells me this is a fresh reversal, not a mature trend, so I’m not sizing up aggressively here. RSI: RSI dropped below the oversold 30 line on July 23, the same session ISRG bottomed at $328.57, and popped back above 30 the very next day, July 24. I don’t buy just because a stock is oversold, I wait for that pop back above 30 as confirmation the selling has actually stopped. ISRG gave me that confirmation in a single session. DMI: This one hasn’t confirmed anything yet. DI- (sellers, red) is still above DI+ (buyers, green), 36 versus 22 as of today. But both lines have been curling toward each other since the July 23 low, and that curl by itself is often the first footprint of a structural trend change, even before the actual crossover prints. No trigger yet. My bet is today’s move is more than short covering. Volume has run 2-3x its pre-earnings pace every session since the July 17, and that kind of sustained turnover usually means real buyers stepping in, not just shorts squaring up. Quick aside before the chart: reading three indicators in real time across a watchlist is basically a full-time job on top of an actual job. That’s the reason I built Maya, an algorithm that runs this same rules-based playbook autonomously, no hesitation, no emotion involved. We’re celebrating one year of being fully live right now, and the $47 anniversary offer is live at https://tradewithmaya.com/autotrading for anyone who wants to see how it handles setups like this one. The Trade Setup: ISRG 355-360 Bull Call Spread With ISRG at $356.83, I’m bracketing the price with a $5 wide bull call spread for the August 21 expiration: buying the $355 call just below the live price and selling the $360 call just above it. If the stock keeps drifting before I get filled, I’ll wrap the strikes around wherever it’s trading; the mechanics don’t change. This structure fills for roughly $2.50, which keeps the sizing math simple. Scaling into 4 contracts means risking $1,000 to potentially walk away with a matching $1,000 in profit. ISRG doesn’t need to repeat today’s 5.7% pop, it just needs to hold what it’s already recovered and add another 1% by expiration. We are not asking for a miracle here. Here is my exact trade setup: Buy $355 call, Aug 21 expiry Sell $360 call, Aug 21 expiry Contracts: 1 Cost: $250 Potential Profit: $250 One trade management note given how violent this stock has been: if the spread loses half its value, or the MACD flips back bearish, I’m out. No arguing with a name that just moved 26% and 5.7% in the same two weeks. — Nishant Pant Founder: https://tradewithmaya.com/ Author: ” Mean Reversion Trading ″ Youtube, Twitter: @TheMeanTrader DISCLOSURES: Nishant has a ISRG 355-360 bull call spread expiring on August 21, 2026. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.Read More
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