Energy Stocks, Including TOTAL S.A, Making Big Moves on December 11, 2012

On a good day for the market, the Nasdaq has climbed 1.7%, the S&P 500 has risen 1% and the Dow is up 0.9%. 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.

Underperforming the market overall, the Energy sector (XLE) is up 0.7%, and these are its current biggest movers:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Pioneer Natural Res (NYSE:PXD)	$12.53 billion	+2.9%
InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC)	$2.52 billion	+2.3%
PDC Energy (Nasdaq:PDCE)	$1.05 billion	-2.3%
Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR)	$13.76 billion	+2.2%
Walter Energy (NYSE:WLT)	$2.27 billion	-2.1%
TOTAL S.A (NYSE:TOT)	$112.71 billion	+1.7%
Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO)	$8.64 billion	+1.3%

Software Summary: Finviz.com Stock Screener

Pioneer Natural Res (NYSE:PXD) is at $104.70 per share after an increase of 2.9%. The company is currently trading a volume of 560,395 shares.

InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC) has moved up 2.3% and is currently trading at $53.40 per share. So far today, 587,590 shares have changed hands, which is more trading activity than there was yesterday.

Falling 2.3%, PDC Energy (Nasdaq:PDCE) is currently at a share price of $33.92. The company's volume for the day so far is 671,202 shares. This is 0.9 times its average volume over the past three months.

Rising 2.2%, Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR) is currently trading at $76.05 per share. At 726,136 shares, the company's volume so far today is in line with the current daily average.

Walter Energy (NYSE:WLT) has fallen 2.1% and is currently trading at $35.58 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of two million shares.

TOTAL S.A (NYSE:TOT) is up 1.7% to reach a current price of $50.85 per share. This morning, 727,931 shares have been traded,.

Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO) is currently trading at $83.62 per share, a 1.3% increase. So far today, 272,382 shares have changed hands. This is 0.3 times the average volume over the last three months.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.