CHICAGO, Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM-Free Report), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG-Free Report), Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A-Free Report), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE:PXD-Free Report) and Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA-Free Report).
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Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:
Oil & Gas Stock Roundup
Crude prices edged lower, legendary investor Warren Buffett took a stake in Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM-Free Report) and Carl Icahn agreed to make peace with Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG-Free Report).
Broader Market:
Crude prices declined last week despite Janet Yellen's 'dovish' testimony.
In fact, oil prices finished down for the fifth time in six weeks amid lingering concerns that the global growth is still in low gear, translating into reduced demand through 2014. Coupled with ever-increasing supplies on the back of modern technological advancements, and political stability in producing countries, crude fundamentals appear bleak. Investors are also apprehensive that last month's 16-day U.S. government shutdown has eroded demand in the worlds biggest oil consumer.
Separately, the Nov 2013 Empire State Manufacturing Survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that manufacturing conditions weakened partially for New York manufacturers. Oil traders often refer to manufacturing statistics as yardsticks to gauge the future fuel demand growth.
Sentiments were further dampened by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report that showed another big jump in inventories, which remains above the upper limit of the average for this time of the year.
As per the EIA's weekly 'Petroleum Status Report,' crude inventories climbed by 2.64 million barrels for the week ending Nov 8 to 388.09 million barrels. What's more, storage at the Cushing terminal in Oklahoma, the key delivery hub for U.S. crude futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, was also up 1.69 million barrels, the fifth straight weekly gain.
In another piece of news coming out from the EIA, monthly U.S. crude output in Oct – at 7.7 million barrels per day – overtook imports for the first time since Feb 1995. With the U.S. awash in crude, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the country will leapfrog Russia and Saudi Arabia to claim the world's 'top oil producer' tag by 2015.
As a result of these factors, by close of trade on Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil was firmly in the red and settled at $93.84 per barrel, losing 0.8% for the week.
On the contrary, the broad-based S&P 500 index gained 1.6% and finished the week by hitting a new record high of 1,798.18. The market's phenomenal run – notching up its sixth consecutive week of gains – was mainly driven by Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen's recent comments before the Senate Banking Committee that gave indications that the current $85-billion stimulus program devised to support the economy will continue for some time.
The Sub-Sectors:
Integrated: Almost all major integrated players traded in the black, with the major newsmaker being Exxon Mobil Corp. The world's largest publicly traded oil firm added 2.7% to its share price last week after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. revealed that it had acquired an additional stake worth $3.45 billion in the company on Friday.
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A-Free Report) was another top gainer, whose U.S.-listed shares were up 3.6% over the week after it closed in on a deal with the Iraqi government to set up an $11 billion ethane-cracking facility in the southern part of the country. Separately, Shell said that it would be partnering Chinese giant Sinopec to probe wells in the largely unexplored central China to examine the shale potential in the region.
E&P: Last week, the SIG Oil Exploration & Production Index traded up 1.0%.
Top gainers include Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE:PXD-Free Report), which soared 7.0% on Wednesday after coming out with news of more success in its core Spraberry/Wolfcamp region in West Texas' Permian Basin. One of the largest operators in the oil-rich area, Pioneer announced production from two horizontal wells, at impressive rates.
U.S. energy firm Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA-Free Report) added 3.0% to its stock price, as it continued offloading oil, gas acreage in an effort to boost valuation and lower debt. The company completed the sale of 33% of its 'risky' Egypt business for around $3.0 billion.
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