DataTrader: National Oilwell Varco and the Bounce in Black Gold
With crude oil trading at a new short term high, it is no surprise to find a number of stocks tied to the oil business rising higher along with it. And nowhere have the gains in the oil business been as robust in recent days as the gains in oil equipment and services companies like National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV).
National Oilwell Varco belongs to the same part of the energy sector as more well-known stocks like Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) and Halliburton (HAL). But the recent price action in NOV, as well as in a number of other equipment and services stocks, suggests that the stock may be especially worthy of further attention.
Shares of National Oilwell Varco have been trading in bear market territory since early August. More recently, the stock has rallied to new short term closing higher, finishing up for five out of the past six trading days.
This strength in bear market territory is what has caused the stock to earn our second lows stock rating of 2 out of 10 for the past four consecutive trading days. This is the lowest rating the stock has earned in months. Previous downgrades to 2 out of 10 have resulted in swift sell-offs in the market for NOV shares such as the one in the second half of August that saw the stock drop for five days in a row, or the sell-off following a major downgrade at the end of August, that saw the stock lose more than 5% in less than 5 days.
National Oilwell Varco was selected for this report using a trading tool called PowerRatings. To learn more about PowerRatings, click here.
David Penn is Editor in Chief of TradingMarkets.com