Energy Stocks, Including National Oilwell, Making Big Moves on October 25, 2012

The morning has been quiet for the market. The Nasdaq remains relatively unchanged; the S&P 500 has remained steady; and the Dow has been relatively flat. 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.

As with the overall market, the Energy sector has shown little movement, but here are its current biggest movers:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
CARBO Ceramics (NYSE:CRR)	$1.41 billion	+11.7%
Energen (NYSE:EGN)	$3.68 billion	-6.1%
Superior Energy Services (NYSE:SPN)	$3.03 billion	+5%
National Oilwell (NYSE:NOV)	$32.74 billion	-4.3%
QR (NYSE:QRE)	$901.6 million	-4.3%
Whiting (NYSE:WLL)	$5.14 billion	-3.8%
EQT (NYSE:EQT)	$8.67 billion	+3.6%

Forex Broker Summary: Forex Capital Markets (FXCM)

CARBO Ceramics (NYSE:CRR) is trading at $68.14 per share, a significant rise of 11.7%. At one million shares, the company's volume so far today is 3.7 times its average over the past three months.

Energen (NYSE:EGN) is currently trading at a share price of $47.93, a 6.1% decline. So far today, the company's volume is 448,562 shares.

Rising 5%, Superior Energy Services (NYSE:SPN) is currently trading at $20.25 per share. At 1.7 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.8 times its current daily average.

National Oilwell (NYSE:NOV) is trading at $73.47 per share, down 4.3%. So far today, the company's volume is 3.7 million shares. This is greater than yesterday's volume of 3.5 million shares.

Falling 4.3%, QR (NYSE:QRE) is currently at a share price of $19.36. The company's volume is currently 251,317 shares for the day, 0.7 times the average volume over the last three months.

Whiting (NYSE:WLL) has fallen 3.8% and is currently trading at $42.04 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 1.6 million shares.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) has risen 3.6% and is currently trading at $60.06 per share. So far today, the company's volume is one million shares, 1.1 times the average daily volume.

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.