Energy Stocks, Including Continental Resources, Making Big Moves on October 22, 2012

The Nasdaq has increased 0.5%, the S&P 500 has been relatively flat and the Dow has remained steady so far today. The energy sector is the category of stocks that relate to producing or supplying energy. This sector includes companies involved in the exploration and development of oil or gas reserves, oil and gas drilling, or integrated power firms. Performance in the sector is largely driven by the supply and demand for worldwide energy. Energy producers will do very well during times of high oil and gas prices, but will earn less when the value of energy drops. Furthermore, this sector is sensitive to political events, which historically have driven changes in the price of oil.

These are the biggest movers in the Energy sector (XLE) (+0.5%):

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU)	$6.95 billion	+11.8%
InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC)	$3.4 billion	-5.9%
Nexen Inc (NYSE:NXY)	$13.46 billion	-5%
Consol (NYSE:CNX)	$8.01 billion	+3.9%
Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO)	$9.66 billion	-3%
Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR)	$13.95 billion	-3%
Natural Resource (NYSE:NRP)	$2.29 billion	+2.8%

Broker Summary: Charles Schwab Online Brokerage

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) is currently at $28.95 per share after a dramatic increase of 11.8%. So far today, the company's volume is 34.1 million shares, three times the average daily volume.

At $66.28, InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC) has slipped 5.9%. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.2 million shares.

Falling 5%, Nexen Inc (NYSE:NXY) is currently at a share price of $24.14. The company's volume is currently 41.8 million shares for the day, whereas yesterday, volume was only 18.5 million shares.

Increasing 3.9%, Consol (NYSE:CNX) is trading at $36.60 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 5.5 million shares. This is 1.3 times the current three-month average.

Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO) has fallen 3% and is currently trading at $89.54 per share. At 1.1 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.6 times the average daily volume.

Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR) is down 3% to reach $74.74 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 1.4 million shares.

Natural Resource (NYSE:NRP) has risen 2.8% and is currently trading at $22.18 per share. So far today, 378,920 shares have changed hands,.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Daily stock performance should be weighed against historical performance and put in context of the market overall. Tools like valuation ratios and profit margins, however, are only as useful as the context you put them in; remember to take historical data and competitor performance into account.