Oil Plunges Anew

The world's biggest oil-exporting group is in the midst of cutting production in order to shore up crude, saying it will reduce output by 1.7 million barrels a day by early February. However, not every analyst is convinced the entire amount will actually come out of the global supply. During past cuts, some OPEC members have said they would lower output but then failed to follow through.

"After the recent selloff, we like Marathon Oil(MRO Quote)," says Hicks. "It has a good combination of solid production growth and stronger margins on refining."

Also in the energy patch, Bernstein upgraded shares of Valero Energy(VLO Quote) and Sunoco(SUN Quote) to market-perform from underperform. The stocks were rising 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively.

Major oil producers generally declined. Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) was down 6 cents at $70.93, and Chevron(CVX Quote) lost 85 cents to $68.56.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration Index(IEO Quote) was off a hair.