Lisa and all, Though his facts aren't right, briefing.com is highly read <<OIL DRILLING AND SERVICES STOCKS. The speculative fever is pouring into the oil services stocks today. Oil prices have been declining steadily for months, and these stocks have trended down. Now comes a one-day bounce in oil prices after an agreement by producers to limit production, that very well may not hold, and the stocks rocket. Big time performers today include: Schlumberger (SLB) +5 1/8, Camco International (CAM) +6 5/8, Halliburton (HAL) +4, Transocean Offshore (RIG) +3 1/8 and the list just goes on. Many of these stocks are now only slightly lower than where they were in the fourth quarter when oil started to slide from $18 a barrel down to the recent $12. Today, oil prices are up about $2. Apparently, the market must be assuming that oil prices will continue to rise, because many of these firms are supposedly unprofitable until oil goes up another $1 or $2. However, the overall market does not seem to think oil prices will continue to rise, judging from the nonchalant attitude in the major indices. Higher oil prices would normally be bearish for stocks, because of the inflation and producer cost implications as well as the fact that oil buying sucks consumer spending power out of the U.S. There have been a slew of firms upgrading these stocks, which has helped boost prices today, and there may even be some short covering. However, the euphoria could be short lived unless oil prices continue to move higher. >>
Dave |
