Crude oil rebounded $2.00 today as news of a refinery fire and protests in South America halted production. The price of oil is extremely sensitive to news events it use to shrug off in years past. The price of crude is also very sensitive to the activities of terrorists. Today, U.S. Navy ship docked in a Jordanian port was attacked by three missiles.
Texas oilman, Boone Pickens, said he expected crude prices to rise to $75/bbl over the next 12 months. I don't care what speculative market guru's say, at these levels and higher, high energy prices will have a profound impact on the US economy.
Some traders believe that the rebound in oil today may signal the end of the market correction of the last few days.
In stocks of interest, Hewlett Packard (HPQ) jumped after their earnings were released on Tuesday after the close. I have to agree with Mark Haines from CNBC after HPQ's earnings were released. He said something about HP's price action, upgrades, etc "look at little fishy". I was early on the sell of HP as far as the market was concerned.
Coca-Cola (KO) received an upgrade from UBS today. UBS raised its rating on Coke to "Buy" from "Neutral" and boosted its stock price target to $53 from $46.
I am adding a new oil stock to the portfolio on this recent pullback. I am adding Exxon-Mobil (XOM) with a buy limit of $59.
