OPEC Gets It Right

At least for the next two months, OPEC may have helped push crude prices higher without any reduction in overall crude supply. If that happens, the cartel's rhetoric could once again prove more important than its actions.

Stock Talk

OPEC's actions helped boost energy equity prices on Thursday, and the price performance of the majors was no exception. Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote), Chevron (CVX Quote) and others all benefit from a more bullish outlook for crude prices.

So, too, should large service companies such as Halliburton (HAL Quote) and Schlumberger (SLB Quote).

However, the warm weather of this week and likely next may pressure these stocks in the short run, especially if both crude and natural-gas inventories turn bearish in the near term.

Yet, assuming a more normal winter -- combined with OPEC's bullish action -- a pre-Christmas dip in energy equities may well turn out to be the best present of all.