http://www.wsj.com/articles/is-it-time-to-invest-in-energy-stocks-1422028657
Is It Time to Invest in Energy Stocks?
With Oil Prices at a Six-Year Low, Here Are the Options for Investorsand the Risks
By Dan Strumpf
Jan. 23, 2015 10:57 a.m. ET
The sharp fall in oil prices has wreaked havoc on shares of energy companies, leaving investors to decide whether now is the time to go bargain hunting.
U.S. crude prices have fallen by more than half since June, trading at a six-year low of around $45 a barrel. For motorists filling up their tanks with sub-$2 gasoline, that has been a cause for celebration. But for investors in the energy sector, it has been a calamity.
The S&P 500 Energy index, comprising the industrys largest companies, lost more than a fifth of its value over the six months through Thursday, the biggest decline of any of the 10 major sectors, according to FactSet. The broader S&P 500, by contrast, rose 4%.
The pain has been worse for shares of smaller producers, many of which took on loads of debt to finance new drilling. A barometer of small energy companies, the S&P SmallCap 600 Energy index, has swooned 47% in the past six months.
Experts warn that the wild swings in energy stocks could continue for some time. While blue-chip names like Exxon Mobil have offered energy investors some insulation from volatile oil prices, producers and service companies are more vulnerable to the tumultbut have more to gain should oil prices stage a rebound.
--because they've been down or because something new is happening now? This is the core of all our head-scratching here....