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

To: Fredman who wrote (34647)	1/9/1999 3:27:00 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

OK- that makes sense to me. So far I have bought HAL (becuase of its relative safety and the large institutional trades I have seen going by. I have also bought GLM, FGI and TMAR. Next I think I would like HLX, CDIS or TCMS. I liked HMAR but ruled them OUT due to debt- would you agree with that? I have a few other rule outs- I will try to find that list. Have you ruled some out?

To: Fredman who wrote (34647)	1/9/1999 3:27:00 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Respond to of 95453

Oil service stocks start 1999 off with a bang By Andrew Kelly HOUSTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - U.S. drilling and oilfield service stocks jumped off the starting block in 1999, after falling sharply and being largely shunned by investors during 1998. Despite some gloomy corporate news on Thursday, oilfield service stocks posted strong gains for the day, taking gains for the first week of this year well into double digits. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's OSX Index of oilfield service stocks rose 6.2 percent on Thursday to 61.03 points; the index has surged 18.4 percent so far this year. In contrast, the broadly-based S&P 500 Index, which closed slightly lower on Thursday, is up just 3.3 percent so far this year. Last year, the OSX Index fell nearly 55 percent, mirroring the slide in world crude oil prices and missing out on the rally that drove the S&P 500 Index almost 27 percent higher. Analysts said the drilling and oilfield services sector had benefited from the rise in New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil futures prices to $13 a barrel this week from below $11 last month. The NYMEX rally, which some analysts believe will be short-lived, followed an enormous draw of almost 15 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories last week and some sharply colder weather over the past five days in the Northeast, the largest U.S. heating oil consuming region. Purchases by investment managers who believe oilfield service stocks offer good value in an otherwise expensive market also have helped to support the rise in share prices. ''The market has got money to put to work and portfolio managers are looking for names that are under-owned,'' said Schroder & Co. analyst James Stone. Stone said the coming months were unlikely to bring positive earnings surprises from contract drillers and oilfield service providers, but he believes their shares could end the year higher. ''I think it will be a volatile year for oilfield service stocks, but I think the bias is going to be up,'' he said. Stock of Houston-based Smith International Inc. (NYSE:SII - news) rose 12.6 percent on Thursday and 28.8 percent for the week, despite the company's warning that its fourth-quarter earnings would fall short of Wall Street estimates. On Thursday, Smith International shares closed $3.63 higher at $32.44. Smith International said it expected fourth-quarter revenues to be some 13 percent lower than in the third quarter because low oil prices had led to reduced exploration activity by oil companies. Texaco Inc. (NYSE:TX - news) on Thursday struck a similarly somber tone, announcing it would cut planned capital spending for 1999 by $600 million, or 11 percent, to $3.7 billion because of weak crude oil prices. Texaco's stock fell 44 cents to $54.38 on Thursday. A large portion of capital spending by oil companies is spent on oilfield services. Many companies have already announced big cuts in their budgets for this year. But stocks of service providers and contract drillers shrugged off such news to post strong gains. Dallas-based Halliburton Co. -- one of the world's top two oilfield service groups -- on Thursday closed $2.81 higher at $35.50, a gain of 8.6 percent for the day and 19.8 percent for the week. Noble Drilling Corp. (NYSE:NE - news) rose 75 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $15.19 on Thursday, extending its gains for the week to 17.4 percent. Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE:DO - news) on Thursday closed $1.56 higher, or up 6 percent, at $27.75 a share, making a year-to-date gain of 17.2 percent. More Quotes and News: Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO - news) Noble Drilling Corp (NYSE:NE - news) Smith International Inc (NYSE:SII - news) Texaco Inc (NYSE:TX - news) Related News Categories: funds, US Market News Help Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. See our Important Disclaimers and Legal Information. Questions or Comments?