Why Stocks Aren't Fretting Over Rising Oil

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 pushed deeper into record territory early Monday as crude prices lifted above $74.30 per barrel. The stock market gains then faded in the afternoon as crude retreated, before finally settling 22 cents higher at $74.15.

Judging by what you read and hear in the financial press, this kind of symbiotic action is either impossible or inexplicable and certainly unusual. But the facts say otherwise, and recent history suggests the conventional wisdom is dead wrong regarding energy's effect, or lack thereof, on the stock market.

For months on The Real Story podcast and the past two weeks in the TheStreet.com's "What a Week" column, I have discussed how higher energy prices are not necessarily a negative for the stock market and even have some positive implications. The short answer is that energy stocks are having a bigger influence on the major averages while strength in the underlying commodity reflects a robust global economy -- facts seemingly lost on most reporters. ...