Some Good Buys in the Oil Patch

This column was originally published on RealMoney on April 17 at 12:12 p.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

In my previous column, I cited several factors that have recently changed my view on crude oil, leading me to believe that 2007 could be a bang-up year in the oil patch, much like 2006 was.

So if we've decided that the oil market is not bound by a range and instead looks to be in the midst of a breakout move, we have a number of ways to position ourselves to take advantage of that.

The first thing we could do is invest directly in crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Although change has been happening at a breakneck pace, the commodity markets are still dominated by professional commodity traders investing in proprietary individual accounts. While the equity markets are also driven by pros, the retail portion makes up the vast majority of money invested in stocks. Not so in the commodity markets, and the difference for the retail investor is enormous. ...