Podcast: Oil & Gas Operations Industry and BRK

Pete, May 21, 2008 @ 2:43PM ET | Link | RSS | Read via Email | Start a Discussion

In a recent podcast for Portfolio Strategy subscribers, we discussed crude oil and oil-related ETF’s.

Right click ON THIS LINK and select “Save Target/Link As…” to save the MP3 file to your computer.

Our daily stock scan found 88 Trading Ideas for Monday. What stood out was the fact that 22 of those were companies in the energy sector. Today, we will focus on the oil & gas operations industry and look at three of the strongest performing companies (PXP, EOG, ECA).

As an extra bonus, we’ll be looking at a short call made by Doug Kass that is getting a lot of attention.

These are some recent articles concerning the oil companies in general:

Oil Producers Mask Decade’s Worst S&P 500 Profit Drop
Take away Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips and profits at U.S. companies are the worst in at least a decade.
“The easy money is behind us, for both the oil companies and investors.”
Not Enough Oil Is Lament of BP, Exxon on Spending
Never have so many oil and gas companies spent so much to produce so little.
Oil Rises on Skepticism Saudi Supply Increase Will Cut Prices
Crude oil rose to a record close on skepticism that Saudi Arabia’s decision to increase output by 300,000 barrels a day will be sufficient to reduce prices.
Pickens: Oil Going to $150, So Move to Gas
Legendary Texas oil billionaire Boone Pickens says President Bush was wasting his time traveling to Saudi Arabia to ask for increased oil production.
House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.
Betting On Rising Oil
Hedging your bets against rising oil prices, with CNBC’s Matt Nesto.

Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP)

Plains Exploration & Production 1st-quarter profit rises
Oil and gas producer Plains Exploration & Production Co. said late Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose as a result of recent acquisitions and higher commodity prices.

CHARTS

Daily bar chart with 50- and 200-day moving averages

Daily bar chart with Swing Line applied

Daily bar chart with InVivo.RMI.Stops and InVivo.RMI.Histogram applied

Mexco Energy Corporation (MXC)

A speculator’s dream come true type of move. Our friend Charles Kirk from the KirkReport.com wrote a great post on a Simple Moving Average Screen and MXC was his list.

Daily bar chart with InVivo.RMI.Stops and InVivo.RMI.Histogram applied

EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG)

EOG Resources 1Q profit rises, beats Wall Street views
Oil and gas exploration company EOG Resources Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter earnings rose 11 percent and beat Wall Street’s expectations, as surging production was countered by a loss related to commodity values.

CHARTS

Daily bar chart with 50- and 200-day moving averages

Daily bar chart with Swing Line applied

Daily bar chart with InVivo.RMI.Stops and InVivo.RMI.Histogram applied

EnCana Corporation (ECA)

EnCana plans to split into two companies
EnCana Corp., a Canadian energy giant, said Sunday that its board of directors has approved a plan to split the company into two.
S&P puts EnCana on negative watch after split plan
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services said Monday it put EnCana Corp.’s credit ratings on a negative watch list, suggesting it may downgrade the Canadian oil and natural gas producer after it announced plans to split itself into two separate companies.

CHARTS

Daily bar chart with 50- and 200-day moving averages

Daily bar chart with Swing Line applied

Daily bar chart with InVivo.RMI.Stops and InVivo.RMI.Histogram applied

Doug Kass recently did an interesting Q&A with Barron’s this past week and spoke about reasons why he is shorting Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Confessions of a Short Seller
DOUGLAS A. KASS OCCUPIES A SPECIAL NICHE IN Wall Street’s pantheon of brains and wit. He’s a short seller, and an outspoken one, at a time when most investors have abandoned the business of betting against stocks.
Kass’ Pans…
Kass: Buffett Veers Off His Investment Path
Since February, the shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) have consistently fallen. And despite the recent market rally, the company’s common shares hit a new 2008 low yesterday.
Kass Shorts Berkshire on Investment Style
Doug Kass, who famously shorted “everything related to housing” in 2007, told Barron’s he has a short position in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, largely because the company has suffered from a drift in its investment style.
Shorting Warren Buffett
Short-seller Doug Kass is shorting Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. He tells CNBC’s Larry Kudlow why.

CHARTS

Daily bar chart with 50- and 200-day moving averages

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Podcast: Oil & Gas Operations Industry and BRK