Milton Ezrati, a senior economist at Lord Abbett, says the recent drop in prices from more than $70 a barrel last summer may be due to the influence of speculators, and he warns of a possible overshoot to the downside.
"Looking forward from this most recent adjustment, there is, of course, a good chance that today's speculative flight from oil could bring prices down even further," he says. Turning to the oil patch, RBC Capital Markets slashed its target price on oil-field services company Halliburton(HAL Quote) to $36 a share from $50. Traders marked down prices 1.3%. Goldman Sachs dinged shares of electricity stock Energy East(EAS Quote) down to a sell rating from neutral, sending shares 0.4% lower. Wachovia downgraded Berry Petroleum(BRY Quote) to a market perform rating from outperform. The shares shed 1.8%. AG Edwards trimmed back its stock price target on Occidental Petroleum(OXY Quote) to $55 a share from $59. The shares were 0.8% lower. The U.S. Oil(USO Quote) exchange-traded fund and the iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Index(OIL Quote) ETF each lost more than 2.5%. Major producers Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) and BP(BP Quote) fell, while Chevron(CVX Quote) edged higher.- Loading Comments...
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| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,270.47 | 1,093.48 | 2,167.88 | 34.29 |
Oil *
75.55
|
|
UP
73.00
|
UP
6.24
|
UP
18.86
|
DOWN
0.17
|
10 Yr
3.43%
SPDR Gold
109.74
|
|
+0.72%
|
+0.57%
|
+0.88%
|
-0.49%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |














