Weekend Reading: All About Energy

Welcome to another edition of Weekend Reading. First, a look back at the week that just finished, then a look forward to the week ahead, and then a summary of some articles and papers worth reading.

It was an up week on the major U.S. markets, the fourth such week out of the last five. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended the week up 1.9% and 2.6%, respectively, and the Nasdaq gained 3.4%.

The S&P 500 is now up an impressive 10% since its March lows. That's quite a run, especially considering the higher oil prices and recession worries confronting the markets.

Looking forward to next week, oil prices are again likely to be the main force holding markets back. We hit yet another record last week, and there is ample reason to believe prices could head higher yet. The price of crude has become a central fixation of most traders, and that won't change any time soon.

Turning to economic indicators, the government plans to release the producer price index Tuesday morning, which will give us an important read on inflation. On Wednesday, we'll get more insight into what Fed policymakers were thinking when they last convened, in the form of FOMC minutes. Friday will bring existing home sales.

As for earnings, first-quarter reporting is pretty much over, but we will see results from retailers Target(TGT Quote - Cramer on TGT - Stock Picks), Home Depot(HD Quote - Cramer on HD - Stock Picks) and Gap(GPS Quote - Cramer on GPS - Stock Picks).

Finally, here are some articles and papers worth reading:

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• Barron's picks Oracle(ORCL Quote - Cramer on ORCL - Stock Picks) and Kraft(K Quote - Cramer on K - Stock Picks), and interviews TheStreet.com contributor (and short-seller) Doug Kass. (Barron's)
• The trouble with international banking. (The Economist)
• An Alarm Is Blaring: Time to Buy. (The New York Times)
• It's Not Just Petroleum, All Imports Cost More. (The New York Times)
• China's stock market is really just a state-controlled casino. (Bloomberg)
• The Fed is oiling the system liberally. (Bloomberg)
• Cities with the worst pain at the pump. (Los Angeles Times)
• Citigroup's(C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) Bad Bet. (Forbes)
• The Buyout Boys Reload. (The Washington Post)
• Sell-Side School Ties. (NBER)
• General Motors(GM Quote - Cramer on GM - Stock Picks): Live Green or Die. (BusinessWeek)
• The future of energy. (Mother Jones)
• 19th century whaling as a model for oil depletion (Oil Drum)