Four Must-See Charts: Commodity and Energy Stocks

Should investors look to jump back into the commodity and energy complex?

Gold prices surged on Friday to a three-month high, helped by soaring crude oil prices as investors flocked towards safety in an uncertain market. Gold prices jumped $37 to close at $895.80 an ounce which represents the highest closing price since early October.

Silver also jumped 57.5 cents to close at $11.94 an ounce and copper added 7.6 cents to settle at $1.472 a pound. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 45 points, or 0.6%, to 8077 and the Nasdaq finished higher by 21 points, or 0.8%, to 1477.

Energy prices followed the sharp move higher in metals. Light, sweet crude oil for March delivery surged over 6%, or $2.80, to close at $46.47 a barrel. Gasoline futures added 5 cents to $1.143 a gallon. Heating oil futures traded up 9.76 cents to $1.4462 per gallon. The one loser, natural gas, however, fell 12.4 cents to $4.557 per 1,000 cubic feet.

It's clear that the metals and energy markets are starting to heat up. Investors could be pouring capital into these sectors for a number of reasons like inflation fears, safety against falling equity prices and on higher demand. Over the weekend, Barron's published a cover story that was bullish on big oil stocks like ExxonMobil (XOM Quote), Total (TOT Quote), Chevron (CVX Quote) and Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR Quote). Barron's says the price of oil is due to rise after falling from the July 2008 highs of $147 a barrel.

The entire commodity and energy complex has fallen out of favor with investors, which is probably one of the reasons Barron's decided to feature the oil sector with a cover story. When a sector becomes depressed it can often be the best time to look for investment opportunities. Sentiment in these sectors is also negative which could be signaling it's time to take a contrarian view.

With that in mind, let's consider four charts that could be signaling it's time to re-enter the commodity and energy stocks.

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