Oil's Not the Widespread Tax It Used to Be

Editor's note: RealMoney.com is free to all TheStreet.com readers until Monday night. We hope you enjoy this article, which was originally published May 19. If you would like to subscribe to RealMoney.com, please click here.

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. ...