Oil's Not the Widespread Tax It Used to Be

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Oil's not a tax on everything -- it's a tax on the consumer. That's what I come down to when I see the charts this weekend and ponder what's happening in so much of industrial America.

Company after company that I examine -- the new techs, as I call them -- actually benefit from higher oil prices. Or they can pass them on with ease, because of the worldwide demand being so strong.

Take all of the companies involved with making a Boeing (BA Quote): Boeing itself, Alcoa (AA Quote), Honeywell (HON Quote) and Precision Castparts (PCP Quote) being good examples. Each of these is necessary because the new Dreamliner burns lots less fuel, and with fuel the biggest airline cost, it stands to reason that higher energy prices make the plane more desirable even at a higher price point.

Or how about all of the companies involved with process and flow control and efficient motors: Parker-Hannifin (PH Quote), Emerson (EMR Quote), Eaton (ETN Quote) and Flowserve (FLS Quote). Those work higher with higher energy prices. CSX (CSX Quote), Burlington Northern (BNI Quote), Kansas City Southern (KSU Quote), Union Pacific (UNP Quote) and Norfolk Southern (NSC Quote) are smaller energy users than trucks, and they ship plenty of ethanol and fertilizer.

Of course everything farming: Deere (DE Quote), Monsanto (MON Quote), Du Pont (DD Quote), AGCO (AG Quote), Potash (POT Quote), Agrium (AGU Quote), Mosaic (MOS Quote) and Archer Daniels (ADM Quote) (these are big companies in market cap now, powers of the S&P or companies just waiting to get into the S&P but stalled by a lack of mergers). And everything that drills, ships and transports oil and gas: Rowan (RDC Quote), Parker (PKD Quote), Weatherford (WFT Quote), Cameron (CAM Quote), Noble (NE Quote), Transocean (RIG Quote), FMC Tech (FTI Quote), Oceaneering (OII Quote) and so many others -- and of course, Halliburton (HAL Quote) and Schlumberger (SLB Quote).