For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 4, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO), Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), Chevron (CVX) and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s AnalystBlog:

Marathon Beats, Production Up

Marathon Oil Corporation’s (MRO) third-quarter 2009 results came in better-than-expected, helped by the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market and divestment losses, came in at 61 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents.

However, as

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Marathon Oil Corporation’s (MRO) third-quarter 2009 results came in better-than-expected, helped by the contribution from increased oil and natural gas production. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market and divestment losses, came in at 61 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents. However, as has been the case with the other oil majors that have already reported -- Exxon (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Chevron (CVX) -- earnings and revenue comparisons with the year-earlier period were quite ugly, severely hampered by lower realized commodity prices and weak refining margins. Marathon’s adjusted earnings per share plunged 77.9%, while sales declined 37.9% to $14.5 billion. Lower Prices More Than Offset Increased Upstream Volumes Income from the upstream segment totaled $491 million during the quarter, down 43.5% from the year-ago level. The company reported production (available for sale) of 393,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day (BOE/d), ...

U.S. stocks rose strongly Thursday, reversing a four-session losing run, after a government report said the economy grew more than expected in the July-September quarter.  Investors shunned Treasuries and jumped back into stocks after the report signaled the economy had emerged from the worst recession since the 1930s. 

The positive surprise was enough to propel benchmark indexes to their biggest advance since July and send safe havens like Treasuries and dollar lower.  Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) and Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) advanced at least 5.1% after the Commerce Department said the economy returned to growth following four straight quarters of decline.  Crude prices jumped $2.44, or 3.1%, to $79.87 and gold was up $16.50 to $1046.40.

The S&P 500 registered its biggest one-day gain since July 23, jumping 2.2% to close at 1,066.11.  The 30-share Dow Jones industrial average shot up by 199.89 points, or 2.05%, at 9,962.58 and the tech-heavy

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 28, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: BP plc (BP), ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), U.S. Steel Corp. (X) and POSCO (PKX).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s AnalystBlog:

BP Tops on Better Cost Control

BP plc (BP) reported its third quarter 2009 results of $1.71 per ADS (American Depositary Share), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.14 on the back of stronger cost controls and increased upstream volumes. However, in comparison with the year-earlier results, earnings fell approximately

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BP plc (BP) reported its third quarter 2009 results of $1.71 per ADS (American Depositary Share), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.14 on the back of stronger cost controls and increased upstream volumes. However, in comparison with the year-earlier results, earnings fell approximately 34% on lower oil prices. BP’s strong performance sets the stage for earnings releases by ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), which are scheduled to report their results on Thursday and Friday this week, respectively. BP expects its capex budget to be $20 billion for the year. The company’s attractive dividend (currently yielding around 6%) remains unchanged from the year-ago level. We believe that BP’s dividend is safe with the recent uptrend in oil prices. Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was $8.1 billion compared with $14.9 billion a year ago. Net debt at the end of ...

Norway-based Integrated StatoilHydro ASA (STO) intends to start production at the Peregrino heavy-oilfield in Brazil in early 2011. The company will start drilling wells in the first half of 2010 for this purpose.  The field is situated 85 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state near Cabo Frio and has an estimated 460 million barrels of recoverable oil. The company expects peak production to reach 100,000 barrels per day in 2012.  Until 1997, foreign companies were barred from the oil blocks of Brazil. Now the scenario has changed and many international integrateds are increasing production at their Brazilian blocks. This includes Chevron (CVX), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and ExxonMobil (XOM).  Given the maturity of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) region, where StatoilHydro has significant upstream focus, the company is looking for development of various international assets. The production from the ...

U.S. stocks stayed above the threshold reached yesterday as a late-session buying helped offset weakness in banking and technology shares.  Financials dragged on stocks through the early afternoon even as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup reported better-than-expected profit reports.   However, the final fifteen minutes witnessed much of the activity as higher oil prices sent energy stocks higher and, in turn, helped the broader market.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 10,000 level for the second-successive day, edging up 47 points, or 0.5%.  The S&P 500 index edged up 4 points, or 0.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ended the day virtually flat.  The gains in the Dow average were led by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) whose shares jumped 2.9%.  The Windows 7 is slated for release on October 22.

Among energy stocks, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) shares climbed 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively, as crude prices jumped to their highest

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Although investors appeared hesitant and positioned themselves ahead of corporate earnings reports, the Dow Jones industrial average inched closer to the 10,000-level before some afternoon weariness saw indexes sinking sharply.  At the end of the session that was characterized by slow trading, the Dow managed to notch up some gains to remain in contention for the 10,000 mark – a level it last breached nearly a fortnight after Lehman’s fateful collapse in September 2008. 

The Dow Jones industrial average, which rose as high as 9931.82 points in the morning, gained 20 points to close at 9885.80.  The broad S&P 500 index rose 4.70 points, or 0.44%, to close at 1,076.19 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day little changed.  Bond markets were closed for the Columbus Day holiday.  On the New York Stock Exchange, 16 stocks were higher in price for every 14 that fell.

Eight of the ten

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The challenges for private oil companies to increase oil production are pretty daunting.

ExxonMobil (XOM) has been producing a little over 2.4 million barrels of oil a day for the last year and a half, its lowest rate of production over the last decade. The dark blue line in the figure below shows the company's production each year since 1999. Four years ago, Stuart Staniford noted that ExxonMobil's 2001 annual report predicted 3% annual growth in production between 2001 and 2007. That projection appears as the red line in the graph below; didn't quite come out as planned. Stuart's theory was that the company correctly predicted the contribution of its new discoveries, but underestimated the declining production rates from mature fields.

ExxonMobil again predicted in 2006 that it could achieve 3% annual growth over 2006-2011. I've shown that forecast as the lighter blue line

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The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61 points on Thursday as traders reacted to news that retailers last month had their first sales gain in more than a year.  A closely watched gauge of sales at major retailers rose 0.1% in September. Still, most stores posted sales declines -- though smaller than in recent months -- even as their figures are compared with last September when business plummeted as the financial meltdown ballooned.  While still tepid, it was the first monthly rise in the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally since July 2008. 

On Thursday, the European Central Bank and Bank of England left interest rates unchanged.  Sentiment also received a boost from domestic corporate borrowing, which rose for the eight straight week. 

The growing optimism surrounding consumer spending, which is crucial for an economic recovery, followed late Wednesday's good results from Alcoa.  The company surprised investors with

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