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Apache Purchasing Some of BP's Assets

BP (BP) announced Tuesday that it completed a sale of assets to Apache (APA). The assets sold were in North America and Egypt and carried a price tag of $7 billion. Previous reports indicated Prudhoe Bay was up for sale, but it turned out not to be the case.

According to APA, which has a knack for purchasing older oil wells and squeezing some more money from them, this purchase was a "rare opportunity to acquire legacy positions from a major oil company." The company's CEO, Steven Farris, noted that the company "seldom have an opportunity like this in one o our core areas let along three," adding that Apache will add value to the assets "for decades to come."

Continue reading Apache Purchasing Some of BP's Assets

Energy Favorites: Apache, Schlumberger and others

"There will be short term anomalies in oil prices; but long term, the world's appetite will increase as supply decreases," says resources expert Curtis Hesler.

The editor of The Professional Timing Service explains, "There is an acceleration phase coming in these markets that will be suddenly set off by a surprise incident. The time to invest for that eventuality is during market weakness when fear is the ruling emotion.

"My favorite major is Apache Corp. (APA). The stock is trading under our downside buy price of $95, and there should be some support at $80. If you are going to own a major oil producer, Apache is the one.

Continue reading Energy Favorites: Apache, Schlumberger and others

BP Shares Climb on Reports of Asset Sale; Oil Spill Costs Climb Too

BP (BP) shares opened up over 4%. The Wall Street Journal reported the oil giant is in talks with U.S. oil and gas company Apache (APA) and other companies over potential asset sales. The talks are part of the steps BP is taking as it is considering how to pay for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Sunday Times earlier reported that BP is in talks to sell up to $12 billion of assets to Apache. The WSJ said on Sunday a deal with Apache could be up to $10 billion and could include stakes in BP's Alaskan oil fields. The Times also mentioned that the Obama administration told Exxon Mobil (XOM) it wouldn't interfere with a bid.

Continue reading BP Shares Climb on Reports of Asset Sale; Oil Spill Costs Climb Too

Serious Money: The Cost of Pushing Chinese Yuan Higher

"Be careful what you wish for" goes the ancient Chinese proverb. The United States government, pushed and prodded by its industrial leaders to get the Chinese to raise the value of the Yuan, should heed these wise words.

The goal, of course, is to make U.S. goods and services cheaper, thereby improving the balance of trade. The problem is that it makes everything cheaper.

It is true that it would support the remaining manufacturing base, software companies, commodities and consulting services. However, this is but a portion of what we have to offer.

What happens if the Yuan increases by 20% against the dollar, and they decide to buy International Business Machines (IBM) the company, not just IBM mainframes? This is not so far fetched. Lenovo bought the ThinkPad notebook computer division from IBM and now it sells Lenovo ThinkPads to us. They would be able to buy IBM 20% cheaper than you or I could buy it.

Continue reading Serious Money: The Cost of Pushing Chinese Yuan Higher

Analyst Calls: ABFS, APA, CSTR, ESL, MGM, POT, SAI, TIVO, UL, ZION ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Soleil upgraded Potash (POT) to hold from sell due to valuation. The firm maintains a $100 price target for shares.
  • FBR Capital upgraded Arkansas Best (ABFS) to market perform from underperform after the company reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters to amend its existing contract to include a 15% wage concession. The firm has a $34 price target for shares.
  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded Zions Bancorp (ZION) to market perform from underperform following the company's Q1 results and raised its target for shares to $25 from $17.
  • Apache (APA) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
  • MGM Mirage (MGM) wasupgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
  • Monster Worldwide (MWW) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ABFS, APA, CSTR, ESL, MGM, POT, SAI, TIVO, UL, ZION ...

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Recognize the ludicrous pattern

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if the market made sense, you could buy retail and restaurants off the lower oil price.

Here's the pattern: We get shelled by oil. It drops to $76 or $77, all energy goes down, and it takes everything else with it. Some of tech has been spared lately because of 3Com (COMS) (Cramer's Take).

Then, in the following couple of days, oil stabilizes (but not after it hurts the oils again), rallies, and everything goes with it.

That's what's been occurring. I don't know why it's any different. In this moment in time, it's often best to buy the most hammered natural gas stocks because they come back fast. The best value is Devon (DVN) (Cramer's Take), but it simply isn't down enough. Apache (APA) (Cramer's Take) would make sense below $60, which is still a ways from here.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Recognize the ludicrous pattern

Technical trade #1: Apache Corp. (APA)

apache technical analysisThe U.S. dollar continues to show weakness, and oil will likely continue to be a good hedge against its further deterioration.

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), which is a large oil and natural gas exploration and production company, should continue to benefit from the dollar's fall.

APA fell from almost $150 in May 2008, to $51 in March. Energy prices improved, and so did this stock as it built a base on a double cup-and-handle formation.

Continue reading Technical trade #1: Apache Corp. (APA)

Six technical trades targeted for big profits

technical tradesWhen selecting which stocks to buy, ratings from agencies like Standard & Poor's can be useful in creating a balanced portfolio.

But did you know technical analysis is the most accurate way to predict where a stock -- or the market for that matter -- is going?

Technical analysis is more of an art than a science, but when used correctly it can boost your profits to new heights. I took a look at stocks that S&P has a four- or five-star rating on and analyzed their charts to come up with six great technical trades for you.

Continue reading Six technical trades targeted for big profits

The week in preview: A glimmer at the end of the tunnel?

Among all the negative economic data that came out last week was a positive surprise: retail sales were higher in January. A fluke or a glimmer at the end of the tunnel? That may depend on whether we see any positive surprises arising from items on this week's economic calendar:

Continue reading The week in preview: A glimmer at the end of the tunnel?

The week in preview: Focus on oil and energy

While other earnings may have disappointed last week, the news was good for oil giant ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP). In what some took as a good sign for big oil, the Houston-based company reported that third quarter net income surged 41% year over year to $3.39 per share, and that revenue also surged 52% to $70 billion. We'll see whether the good news extends to other petroleum giants scheduled to report quarterly results this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for BP (NYSE: BP) profits to have grown 43.2% in the most recent quarter to $2.34 per share on revenue of $109.7 billion, and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) to post earnings up 39.4% to $3.25 per share on revenue of $86.8 billion. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) likewise are expected to report higher net income of $2.33 per share (sales of $23.4 billion), $2.40 per share (sales of $131.4 billion), and $2.65 per share, respectively. Even Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is expected to post earnings slightly higher to $1.46 per share (sales of $36.4 billion), despite the effects of Hurricane Ike. Among these companies, only BP and Valero beat earnings expectations in the previous quarter. Not surprisingly, analysts on average recommend buying all except Valero, and shares of all of these companies have recently hit 52-week lows.

Continue reading The week in preview: Focus on oil and energy

The week in preview: High expectations for oil and energy

So the earnings crunch continues, and here's a look at some companies scheduled to report results this week that are anticipated to be big winners and losers in terms of earnings growth.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

Clearly expectations are high for oil and energy. Other companies expected to report double-digit earnings growth include Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET).

Continue reading The week in preview: High expectations for oil and energy

Earnings highlights: Countrywide, Visa, MasterCard, KBR, Office Depot and others

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Countrywide, Visa, MasterCard, KBR, Office Depot and others

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Nat gas dip was profit-taking, nothing more

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's not a strong-dollar sell -- the story here is still too good.

Why did natural gas go down last week? What was that? Inventories were down. The commodity price was up. The fuel itself is green. It is better than ethanol and it is being used to fuel an increasing numbers of cars and trucks.

The whole move down had to have been triggered by something, right? Yeah, how about the fact that the stocks were up a lot and were due for some profit-taking.

Recall that the real "reason" they went down is that the dollar "got strong," and that was supposed to trigger commodity deflation; natural gas is a commodity and is therefore going to go down. (Barron's made this very case this weekend, oblivious to the facts, but loving the theory.)

This kind of thinking is just so stupid that it shows you can get chance after chance after chance to own the fuel that can take care of the nation if we just let it. Of course, the stocks began to come back later in the week as threats of supply cut-offs of crude -- they came true this weekend -- made natural gas declines virtually impossible, despite the "sense" that it peaked. So the money has came back and I believe will continue to come back.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Nat gas dip was profit-taking, nothing more

Analyst upgrades: Energy companies, utilities, Tailsman Energy

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Energy companies, Regulated and Diversified Utilities and Tailsman Energy were today's noteworthy upgrades:

  • Bernstein raised its 2008 oil forecast to $92.30/bbl, up 27%, and 2008 natural gas forecast to $8.30/mcf, up 7%. By 2012, the firm expects oil prices to be around $86/bbl and for gas to be $9.2/mcf. The firm upgraded Apache Corp (NYSE: APA) and XTO Energy (NYSE: XTO) to Outperform from Market Perform and EnCana (NYSE: ECA) to Market Perform from Underperform.
  • Goldman upgraded the Regulated and Diversified Utilities sub-sectors to Attractive from Neutral citing expected economic weakness, positive commodity exposure, and earnings growth. The firm upgraded American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) to Buy from Neutral.
  • Citigroup upgraded shares of Tailsman Energy (NYSE: TLM) to Buy from Hold ahead of the company's annual meeting as they believe it will announce a new strategy of low risk resource development on existing acreage and that shares will react positively.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Option update: Apache volatility at 38 as shares near record high on $104 oil

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), an oil and gas exploration and development company, is recently trading at $115.10. Crude oil futures are at $104.10, up 4.60% according to Bloomberg. APA over all option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movements.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

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Last updated: February 11, 2012: 06:01 AM

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