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Oil Plunges 5% on Fears That European Economies May Falter

This morning the big news of the day was the drubbing of European stock markets as fear spread throughout the region. Fear was generated by concern that some European countries could default on their sovereign debt. Among them are Greece, Spain, and Portugal.

Greece's budget gap is 12.7% of GDP Greece has to slash spending and may need IMF assistance.

Investors sold investment deemed risky such as commodities, gold and stocks and moved their money into bonds. This started a selling frenzy in commodities with oil falling $3.14 per barrel to $73.14 per barrel. Brent crude fell $3.79 per barrel to $72.13 per barrel.

Continue reading Oil Plunges 5% on Fears That European Economies May Falter

ExxonMobil: A Buy After Q4?

ExxonMobil (XOM) is a tricky stock to consider. The integrated oil entity reported fourth-quarter results on Monday, and there was good news and bad news. According to Jonathan Berr over at DailyFinance, net income was $1.27 per share, several pennies ahead of estimates. The top line also came in better than expected.

Unfortunately, profit on a dollar basis dropped over 20%. And higher oil prices are making things difficult at the refinery stage. While the earnings beat is good, these elements to the story must be given ample consideration.

Continue reading ExxonMobil: A Buy After Q4?

Closing Bell: Market Rally Despite Negative January Barometer (JPM, USU, LEAP, XOM)

Despite the negative threat of the January Barometer, the markets rallied and rallied sharply today. A strong ISM release rose above more debt concerns globally. Even a $1.6 trillion deficit being locked in for 2011 had no negative impacts on stocks.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,185.53 +118.20 (1.17%)
S&P 500 1,089.18 +15.31 (1.43%)
Nasdaq 2,171.20 +23.85 (1.11%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades
Top Stock and Market Rumors

Continue reading Closing Bell: Market Rally Despite Negative January Barometer (JPM, USU, LEAP, XOM)

Exxon Mobil Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview

exxon mobil fourth quarter earnings previewOil giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) is going to be reporting its fourth quarter numbers on Monday. Going into Monday's report, Wall Street is expecting to see the company post earnings of $1.19 per share.

During the same period last year the company posted earnings of $1.55 a share.

Continue reading Exxon Mobil Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview

Cameron Is in an Uptrend

Investors have one-last chance to scoop-up shares of Cameron International Corp. (CAM), due to a pull-back, and it goes without saying that I'm reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on April 24, 2009, at a price of $25.59. If you bought Cameron in April 2009, you're up about 50%.

Look for Cameron to continue to benefit longer-term from demand for oilfield capital equipment and deepwater support equipment, on likely, ramping oil demand in immediate years ahead. Further, new technology that's likely to increase natural gas drilling and production (via a technology called hydraulic fracturing) in North America also holds out the promise of increased valve business for CAM.

Continue reading Cameron Is in an Uptrend

Oil Futures Up on Obama's State of the Union Address

Last night was President Obama's first State of the Union address. Already, the oil market is benefiting from the speech, as it gave a sense of optimism for the economy, according to some analysts. That is, if you can call a 23-cent jump in futures a benefit.

The speech stressed job creation and the belief that the worst of the economic crisis is over, which has trickled over to investors (and who said trickle-down economics don't work?). Combine last night's Presidential address with the Federal Reserve's decision to leave monetary policy unchanged and you have the makings of a temporary bump for the market.

Continue reading Oil Futures Up on Obama's State of the Union Address

Hess Is Undervalued

One of the first rules of behavioral maturity is, "Don't expend $1,000 worth of emotion over a 5-cent irritation."

Hence, don't get upset over those prices at the pump -- prices that almost certainly are headed much higher -- but profit from them, by owning Hess Corp (HES). I'm obviously reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on April 22, 2009 at a price of $50.41.

If you bought HES in April 2009, you're up about 20%. If you didn't, don't fret; there's more upside ahead.

Continue reading Hess Is Undervalued

Recession Was Caused by Bad Mortgages or the Oil Shock?

The consensus on Wall Street and in Washington is that the financial crisis stemming from toxic assets that were packaged/sliced/diced to mask bad subprime mortgages led to first the U.S. recession and the global recession.

But not everyone agrees. Jeff Rubin, former chief economist for CIBC World Markets, argues that the U.S.'s worst recession since the Great Depression, and the first global recession since the end of World War II, was caused by the 2007-2008 oil shock and over reliance on that high-priced crude, The Toronto Sun reported.

Continue reading Recession Was Caused by Bad Mortgages or the Oil Shock?

Inventory Report Pushes Oil Lower

falling oil pricesOil prices traded lower Wednesday following an inventory report from the Department of Energy that showed a larger than expected increase in oil reserves last week.

Analysts had been expecting oil supplies to increase by roughly 1.9 million barrels, but were surprised to see the actual increase a much higher at 3.7 million barrels.

Following the unexpected rise in inventories, oil moved lower on the day and closed a bit under the psychological $80 barrier at $79.60. On Thursday oil prices crawled up to near $80 a barrel.

Continue reading Inventory Report Pushes Oil Lower

Suncor Energy Remains in Uptrend

As oil's price rises, oil sands company Suncor Energy Inc.'s (SU) prospects brighten, which is a major reason I'm reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on February 25, 2009, at a price of $18.35. If you bought Suncor in February 2009, you're up more than 100%.

Canada-based Suncor's oil sands production jumped 24% in Q3 to 305,000 barrels per day (bpd), stemming from the Petro-Canada merger and improved performance. For the full-year 2009, SU's oil sands production should increase an impressive 30-35%.

Continue reading Suncor Energy Remains in Uptrend

Before the Bell: Investors Cautious Ahead of Retail Sales Reports

Stocks futures on Wall Street headed lower on Thursday in advance of fresh sales numbers from the nation's retailers and losses in foreign markets. Index futures showed the Dow Jones industrial average off by 29 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down by 4.75 and 3.5 points, respectively.

After gains Wednesday, stocks ended the day mixed following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting last month. The record showed members differed over whether to continue or end stimulus and expressed concern about the nation's elevated unemployment rate, which they expect to remain high for some time. The Dow industrials added 1.66 points, while the Nasdaq lost 7.62 points and the S&P 500 ended nearly flat.

Continue reading Before the Bell: Investors Cautious Ahead of Retail Sales Reports

The Latest Factor to Boost Oil Prices: Cold Weather

The price of oil, which these days seemingly averages one new, bullish catalyst a week, now has another -- to ring in the new year: a possible colder-than-normal winter in the northern hemisphere.

Bitter cold weather from the United States to China has increased the demand for heating oil, particularly in the oil-use-heavy Northeast U.S., and in the process boosted the value of crude. Of course weather patterns can shift, but as of now it looks like the U.S. may be in for a colder-than-normal winter. Oil, which traded Tuesday afternoon up 39 cents to $81.90 per barrel, will now likely take out last year's high at/near $82.

Continue reading The Latest Factor to Boost Oil Prices: Cold Weather

Closing bell: Market Lacks Conviction, Again (AAPL, NOK)

The DJIA has not moved much since mid-month and today was no exception with all three major indexes close to flat.

The Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 52.9 for December, up from up from 50.6 in November. Both numbers are extremely low compared to a reading of closer to 90 in an expanding economy. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home price rose a tiny .4% from September to October, but the most recent figure for the housing market was still down 7.3% from last year. Housing prices may be about to find a bottom, but, if so, the case for it is still shaky.

The unofficial closing bell numbers:

Dow 10,545.41 -1.67 (-0.02%)
S&P 500 1,126.19 -1.59 (-0.14%)
Nasdaq 2,288.40 -2.68 (-0.12%)

Continue reading Closing bell: Market Lacks Conviction, Again (AAPL, NOK)

Oil Rises on Anticipation of Cold Weather

oil pricesOil prices are moving higher today, as investors look to weather forecasts that predict colder than normal weather coming over the next week.

According to a report from Weather Derivatives, heating fuel consumption will most likely rise by about 6.7% over the next seven days as cold weather continues to sweep across the nation.

Continue reading Oil Rises on Anticipation of Cold Weather

Finally, a Replacement for 'Big Oil'?

Can any fuel form make a serious run at oil use in the U.S. in the decade ahead? Natural gas might -- largely as a result of natural gas' abundant domestic supply, if new drilling techniques are deemed environmentally safe.

Briefly, the new techniques -- including one called 'hydraulic fracturing' -- enables natural gas suppliers to profitably access more gas than before. As a result, the Potential Gas Committee says the United States now has a more than a 100-year supply of natural gas.

Continue reading Finally, a Replacement for 'Big Oil'?

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+150.2510,058.64
NASDAQ+24.822,150.87
S&P 500+13.781,070.52

Last updated: February 10, 2010: 05:07 AM

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