Since June, oil has been on a sharp decline from $107/barrel to $67/barrel. Thanks to slowing global growth and OPECs reluctance to cut supply, oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels since 2009. As a consumer it is wonderful to see gas prices around $2.50 again. It's been a long time coming. You often read that consumer stocks are the big beneficiaries of falling oil prices but is this truly the case? Let's take a quick look at the potential winners and losers of falling oil prices…
2013 in review: US Stocks win the race
Equities reign supreme
As we look back on 2013, investors will smile wide at the US stock market indices hitting historic highs. Not only did US markets have an outstanding year but they doubled the return of international indices. The once popular BRIC investing theme actually finished with 3 of the 4 BRIC countries in the red. The countries that went bankrupt in the financial crisis rose from the ashes as Greece, Ireland and Iceland were all up over 29%. Volatility was crushed by the running bulls as the VIX was down over 30%.
Oil Services Kerchunker Core Laboratories Reports Record Results.
On Wednesday, Core Laboratories reported record 3rd quarter results as new technology helped set all-time quarterly highs for EPS, net income and revenue. Its business continues to kerchunk, kerchunk, kerchunk. What makes Core Lab a great service company? It targets the more stable, less volatile production and production enhancement component of the oil companies’ budget. This makes results less cyclical and much more predicable than most energy investments. The proof is in the pudding. Over the last 10 years, sales growth has averaged 10% per annum while earnings have grown by over 35% per annum.