Crude Oil Up, Industry Players Tag Along

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Oil pumpjack
Thinkstock
Last night’s agreement on a fiscal cliff deal is lifting the commodities markets this morning, especially for crude oil. Traders are reacting to the now-lessened chance of a global recession led by severe cutbacks in U.S. spending. The fiscal cliff deal that will go to President Obama today for his signature raises taxes, but does little to cut spending.

WTI crude oil is up more than 1.7% at $93.40, while Brent crude is up about 1.3% at $112.53. Big oil producers are getting a pre-open boost as well, with Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) up 2%, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) up 1.7%, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) up 2.3% and BP PLC (NYSE: BP) up 1.5%.

Refiners are joining the party as well. Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is up 2.4%, Philllips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is up 2.1%, Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is up 2.4% and Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) is up 2.8%.

Services firms like Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) are all up about 2%, and drilling firms Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) and Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) are also up more than 2%.

Natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is up about 2% even though natural gas is trading down about 0.7% at $3.33 per thousand cubic feet.

Paul Ausick

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618