Energy Sector Performance: Not as Bad as It Appears at First Glance

Since energy stocks bottomed on 3/5/09 they have rallied back 26.68% versus a 34.72% gain for the S&P 500 during the same period. At first glance we see that energy has lagged the market by 8.04%, but the performance of the sector has actually been a result of a small percentage of its members.

The energy sector is made up of 39 names which are listed below, 85% of those stocks have actually outperformed the sector index. Going one step further, 79% of energy stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 since the March 5th close. Many of the small speculative energy companies have posted significant gains, including three that are up more than 100%.

The culprits have been the conglomerates: Chevron (CVX), Conoco (COP), and Exxon (XOM). These three stocks account for 53% of the sector's total weight and their under-performance has thus been reflected. On an unweighted basis the energy sector has outperformed the S&P 500 by 13.69% since 3/5/09.

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Comments

[toobad41:]

What energy sector is this? Seems like some companies are missing; i.e. RIG, SLB, TOT, BHP, BP to name a few.

May 08 09:16 AM

[Bill-LV:]

What is CVX, XOM and COP's future? BUy the others?

May 08 12:08 PM