National Oilwell and Other Big Movers In Energy on November 19, 2012

The market is currently up, with the Nasdaq rising 1.7%, the S&P 500 moving up 1.5% and the Dow increasing 1.3%. 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 1.8%, outperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector so far are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC)	$3.02 billion	-4.6%
SM (NYSE:SM)	$3.24 billion	+3.9%
National Oilwell (NYSE:NOV)	$30.14 billion	+3.5%
Cimarex (NYSE:XEC)	$5.26 billion	+3.4%
Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR)	$12.58 billion	+2.8%
BP Prudhoe Bay (NYSE:BPT)	$1.58 billion	+2.2%
Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO)	$8.28 billion	+2.1%

Forex Broker Summary: Forex Capital Markets (FXCM)

InterOil Corporation (NYSE:IOC) has decreased to $59.65 per share, a 4.6% fall. At 437,322 shares, the company's volume so far today is in line with the current daily average.

Rising 3.9%, SM (NYSE:SM) is currently trading at $50.92 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 438,148 shares. This is on pace to fall short of yesterday's volume of 2.3 million shares.

National Oilwell (NYSE:NOV) has risen 3.5% to hit a current price of $73.09 per share. With 1.6 million shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is in keeping with the average volume over the past three months.

Cimarex (NYSE:XEC) is up 3.4% to reach a current price of $62.77 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 180,692 shares.

Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR) has increased to a share price of $69.90, a 2.8% rise. So far today, the company's volume is 357,484 shares, 0.3 times the average daily volume.

BP Prudhoe Bay (NYSE:BPT) has moved up 2.2% and is currently trading at $75.64 per share. So far today, 64,074 shares of the company's stock have changed hands. This is a sign that there will be less trading activity than there was yesterday.

Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO) is currently trading at $80.85 per share, a 2.1% increase. The company's volume is currently 245,836 shares for the day, 0.2 times its current three-month average.

The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. 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.