Ivanhoe Electric Plunges 8.7% on Intraday Turmoil: What's Fueling the Selloff?

Summary
• Ivanhoe Electric (IE) slumps 8.66% to $13.07, hitting a 52-week low of $12.85
• Final land payment for Santa Cruz copper project and $200M bridge loan approved
• Options chain shows heightened volatility, with IE20251219C12.5 trading at 82.62% IV

The stock’s sharp decline defies recent financing milestones and project advancements, with technical indicators and options activity hinting at a volatile near-term outlook. Traders are now scrutinizing key support levels and sector dynamics as the selloff intensifies.

Final Land Payment and Financing Spark Profit-Taking
Ivanhoe Electric’s 8.66% intraday drop follows the completion of its final land acquisition payment for the Santa Cruz copper project and the announcement of a $200 million bridge loan. While these developments should bolster investor confidence, the selloff suggests profit-taking after a recent rally or skepticism about the project’s execution risks. The stock’s 52-week low of $12.85 and 52-week high of $17.9 highlight its volatile trajectory, with the current price near critical support levels.

Copper Sector Mixed as Freeport-McMoRan Gains 0.28%
Options and Technicals: Navigating Volatility in a Bearish Setup
• MACD: -0.183 (bearish divergence), Signal Line: -0.280, Histogram: 0.097 (bullish crossover)
• RSI: 62.25 (neutral), Bollinger Bands: 14.34 (upper), 12.82 (middle), 11.31 (lower)
• 200D MA: $9.21 (below current price), 30D MA: $13.65 (near-term resistance)

Key levels to watch: 12.85 (support), 13.65 (resistance). The RSI’s neutral reading and MACD’s bearish divergence suggest a potential continuation of the selloff. For options, IE20251219C12.5 and IE20260116C12.5 stand out due to high implied volatility and liquidity.

IE20251219C12.5
• Code: IE20251219C12.5, Type: Call, Strike: $12.5, Expiry: 2025-12-19
• IV: 82.62% (high volatility), Leverage: 10.20%, Delta: 0.632 (moderate sensitivity), Theta: -0.039 (rapid time decay), Gamma: 0.153 (high sensitivity to price moves), Turnover: $54,774 (liquid)
• This call offers aggressive upside if IE rebounds above $12.5, but theta decay risks erosion if the move is delayed.

IE20260116C12.5
• Code: IE20260116C12.5, Type: Call, Strike: $12.5, Expiry: 2026-01-16
• IV: 73.92% (moderate), Leverage: 7.77%, Delta: 0.625, Theta: -0.019, Gamma: 0.109, Turnover: $2,912
• A longer-dated call with lower theta decay, ideal for a gradual recovery scenario. Gamma suggests it could benefit from a sustained rebound.

Payoff Estimation: Assuming a 5% downside to $12.42, IE20251219C12.5’s payoff is $0 (strike above price), while IE20260116C12.5’s payoff is $0.08 (strike slightly above price). Aggressive bulls may consider IE20260116C12.5 into a bounce above $13.65.

Backtest Ivanhoe Electric Stock Performance
Here is an interactive report of the requested back-test. It shows how Ivanhoe Electric (ticker IE.A) would have performed had you bought at the close on every day when the intraday draw-down from the session’s open to the low reached –9 % or worse (no additional risk-control rules were applied, and positions were unwound at the next signal or on the test end-date).Key take-aways• Period tested: 2022-06-28 to 2025-12-01 • Trades triggered: see interactive chart/table for exact dates (derived from daily OHLC where (Low – Open)/Open ≤ –9 %). • Total return: ≈ 34.6 % (buy-and-hold over same span: ≈ 21 %) • Annualised return: ≈ 31.8 % • Max draw-down: ≈ 71 % – reflects very high interim volatility; the strategy can suffer deep pullbacks between signals. • Risk metrics (Sharpe ≈ 0.46) indicate only moderate risk-adjusted performance; gains came with substantial downside swings. • No explicit stop-loss / take-profit limits were applied (default choice since not specified). Consider adding protective exits or position-sizing rules if you plan to trade this live.You can explore all individual trades, equity-curve, and performance statistics in the interactive panel above.

Act Now: Monitor Support and Sector Catalysts
The selloff in Ivanhoe Electric appears driven by profit-taking and technical exhaustion, with key support at $12.85 and resistance at $13.65. While the copper sector leader Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) gains 0.28%, IE’s trajectory remains decoupled from broader sector trends. Investors should prioritize liquidity and volatility management, with options like IE20260116C12.5 offering a hedge against a potential rebound. Watch for a breakdown below $12.85 or a reversal above $13.65 to confirm the next directional move.