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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (66648)	5/19/2000 2:40:00 PM
From: Think4Yourself	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

Not in this industry! I have been checking the ones that are up, like BPA and UCL. Most are up on normal to slightly heavy volume. Money is definitely flowing in, at least to the Major integrateds. Probably due to the EPA waiver rumors. My portfolio confirms this. My energy related stocks are holding up very well relative to the rest of the portfolio. I feel sorry for folks overweighted in techs today. The must be feeling real pain. Could be a round of margin call selling Monday morning.

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (66648)	5/19/2000 2:59:00 PM
From: Think4Yourself	Respond to of 95453

Oil, Gas Firms New Wall Street Darlings By Paul Thomasch NEW YORK (Reuters) - While they may not trade on the Nasdaq or call Silicon Valley home, oil and natural gas exploration companies are suddenly putting on quite a show in the stock market. In the last few months Devon Energy Corp (AMEX:DVN - news), Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA - news), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC - news) and others have seen their stock prices leap -- in some cases doubling -- thanks to roaring oil and gas prices. And analysts say a run that has lifted the Standard & Poor's index of exploration and production companies by about a third this year, is far from over. ``These companies are still cheap,'' said Dave Wheeler, an analyst with Deutsche Banc Alex.Brown. ``The sentiment was so extremely negative, that the stocks were way oversold.'' All but dismissed because of depressed commodity prices, poor balance sheets, and the rush toward technology stocks, independent oil and gas companies saw their shares swoon early last year, hitting lows not witnessed in a decade. ``We were for awhile there basking in our own irrelevance,'' said Credit Suisse First Boston's Phil Pace. ``But the phone is ringing a little more these days.'' Riding The Gravy Train Pace and others said the dramatic shift has largely been caused by soaring natural gas prices -- which at $3.755 per million British thermal units are twice as high as they were a year ago. Higher crude oil prices have also helped make a case for investing in smaller exploration and production companies, analysts said. Even after an agreement earlier this year by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise production, oil prices continue to hover near $30 a barrel -- nearly three times what they were at the end of 1998. ``There was a concern that oil could fall to $18 or $20 a barrel after the OPEC agreement,'' said Bill Featherston, an analyst with PaineWebber. ``Anything north of that is now considered gravy.'' While stronger commodity prices have done little for the industry's powerhouses -- shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM - news), Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CHV - news), and Texaco Inc. (NYSE:TX - news) have barely budged in the last year -- they have made smaller exploration and production firms look something like the once high-flying technology companies. Shares of Oklahoma City-based Devon, for instance, are up 80 percent since the start of the year. Apache has risen 67 percent and shares of Enron Oil and Gas (EOG) (NYSE:EOG - news) have more than doubled. Both Apache and EOG are based in Houston. ``These companies are going to generate huge earnings, and now they're even starting to attract momentum players,'' said Wheeler. ``It will qualify as an awesome growth story.'' Bigger Isn'T Better Unlike the so-called major integrated oil companies, most exploration and production firms focus solely on finding and producing hydrocarbons. They do not refine oil and sell gasoline, nor do they make petrochemicals. ``These companies tend to be relatively pure commodity plays,'' said Pace. ``The integrated are just that -- integrated. They are influenced by refining and marketing as well as chemicals,'' he said, adding that for the most part smaller companies are also better growth plays than the oil majors. Pace, in fact, believes exploration and production stocks could rise another 20 to 30 percent before hitting historic valuation peaks. North of the boarder, Canada's independent oil and gas producers are also enjoying the good times. The Toronto Stock Exchange's oil and gas index stands at 7,842 points, up about 36 percent from start of year, and fast is approaching the all-time high it set in October 1997. Like their counterparts in the United States, Alberta Energy (Toronto:AEC.TO - news), Anderson Exploration (Toronto:AXL.TO - news), Canadian Natural Resources (Toronto:CNQ.TO - news), and Talisman Energy TLM.TO) are all at -- or near -- record highs. ``I guess we're finally getting our 15 minutes in the sun,'' said Deutsche Banc Alex.Brown's Wheeler.