Oil and Gas Operations Stocks, Including China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Making Big Moves on October 9, 2012

The market is having a bad day so far. The Nasdaq has declined 1.7%; the S&P 500 has decreased 0.8%; and the Dow has fallen 0.7%.

Despite a bad day for the market overall so far, the Oil and Gas Operations sector (DIG) is up 0.5% and its biggest movers are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Laredo Petroleum Holdings (NYSE:LPI)	$2.77 billion	-7.6%
Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX)	$4.15 billion	+5.2%
Gulfport (Nasdaq:GPOR)	$1.69 billion	+5%
SM (NYSE:SM)	$3.38 billion	+3.2%
Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH)	$2.15 billion	-2.5%
Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR)	$13.86 billion	+2.5%
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP)	$82.69 billion	+2.4%

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Falling 7.6%, Laredo Petroleum Holdings (NYSE:LPI) is currently at a share price of $19.95. So far today, 221,206 shares of the company's stock have changed hands. Yesterday, volume was only 111,829 shares. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock.

Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) is up 5.2% to reach a current price of $32.35 per share. At 1.7 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.9 times the current daily average. Volume is an important indicator because it indicates how significant a price shift is.

Gulfport (Nasdaq:GPOR) has risen 5% to hit a current price of $31.96 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 912,523 shares. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price.

After rising 3.2%, SM (NYSE:SM) is currently trading at a share price of $53.61. The company's volume for the day so far is 380,939 shares, 0.4 times the average volume over the last three months. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite.

At $42.19, Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) has slipped 2.5%. The company's volume for the day so far is 261,926 shares. This is about the same trading activity as there was yesterday. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting.

Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR) is currently trading at $78.45 per share, a 2.5% increase. So far today, the company's volume is 1.2 million shares, 1.3 times its current daily average. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) is at $97.55 per share after an increase of 2.4%. So far today, 71,895 shares have changed hands. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator.

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. Keep in mind that all these ratios should be compared against historical numbers and industry information in order to get a more complete picture.