Energy Stocks, Including Magellan Midstream Partners, Making Big Moves on October 26, 2012

The morning has been bad for the market. The Nasdaq is trading down 0.1%; the S&P 500 has slipped 0.2%; and the Dow has slipped 0.1%. 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.

The Energy sector (XLE) is up 0.1% on a bad day for the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE:CLD)	$1.16 billion	+15%
Yanzhou Coal Mining Co (NYSE:YZC)	$7.96 billion	-10.9%
Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE:COG)	$9.06 billion	+8.6%
Delek US Holdings (NYSE:DK)	$1.38 billion	+4.9%
Carrizo Oil & Gas (Nasdaq:CRZO)	$1.02 billion	+4.3%
Consol (NYSE:CNX)	$7.83 billion	+2.9%
Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP)	$9.98 billion	-2.8%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

After a big jump of 15%, Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE:CLD) is trading at $21.83 per share. The company's volume is currently 1.7 million shares. This is more trading activity than there was yesterday.

Shares of Yanzhou Coal Mining Co (NYSE:YZC) are currently trading at $14.41, a steep decline of 10.9%. The company's volume for the day so far is 360,657 shares, 1.4 times the average volume over the last three months.

Rising 8.6%, Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE:COG) is currently trading at $46.85 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 3.1 million shares.

Delek US Holdings (NYSE:DK) is at $24.73 per share after an increase of 4.9%. At 184,861 shares, the company's volume so far today is in line with the current daily average.

Carrizo Oil & Gas (Nasdaq:CRZO) has moved up 4.3% and is currently trading at $26.58 per share. The company is trading at a volume of 501,828 shares. This is on pace to reach yesterday's trading volume of 998,097 shares.

Increasing 2.9%, Consol (NYSE:CNX) is trading at $35.41 per share. The company's volume is currently 1.4 million shares for the day, 0.3 times its current three-month average.

At $42.88, Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) has slipped 2.8%. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 199,037 shares.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. 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.