Getty Images Oil tankers near the Iraqi port city of Al-Faw.I’ve been bullish on oil and energy stocks since early 2017. It was a lonely trade for a while. But returns have picked up remarkably since last August, when the price of oil finally started climbing. West Texas Intermediate crude CLM8, +0.46% has risen over 50% since August, to trade at $71 recently. Oil stocks have gone up nicely, too. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF XOP, +2.46% is up 48%, compared with 13% for the S&P 500 SPX, +0.74% including dividends. But I’m still bullish on energy companies in my stock letter, Brush Up on Stocks. It’s too early to sell. One reason is that most investors still don’t believe oil prices and energy stocks will hold, or are headed higher. This means energy stocks remain a kind of contrarian play, despite the recent gains. I can tell, in part, because of the skeptical coverage of energy names and the oil strength in major financial publications, which are often good contrarian indicators. But I am not the only one who has noticed.via