Baltimore-(TFN):Time to panic? If you are part of the Obama administration the answer is yes. If you are an American investor, hold off on the freaking out for at least another month or so.

With the nation’s unemployment rate officially in double-digit territory and the under-employed rate ready to the 20% mark, the politicians that promised bliss in the days ahead are eating their words today.

And that means Wall Street is eating its recent gains.

For nearly a month, the Dow has hovered around the 10,000 mark. After hundreds of billions of dollars were withdrawn earlier this year, it was relatively easy to put that money back to work and send the equities market higher.

But now that the economic data is showing facts of slower-than-expected expansion rather than “ideas” of growth, investors are forced to explain their logic. The Dow doesn’t want to budge from 10k.

So far, I’ve heard very

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 6, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Oil & Gas sector, including CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), Cameron International (CAM), Nabors (NBR) and Patterson-UTI (PTEN).

A synopsis of today’s Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/26953/Oil+%26amp%3B+Gas+Industry.

The strengthening oil price environment should benefit producers, particularly those international players having attractive growth opportunities in their home markets. Two such standout names are China’s CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), both of which remain well-placed to benefit from the country’s growing appetite for energy.

CNOOC enjoys a monopoly on exploration activities in China’s very prospective offshore region in addition to having a growing presence

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OUTLOOK The improving economic scene, both here in the U.S. as well as worldwide, is the main driver of the current oil rally that has seen the commodity settling around the $80 per barrel level. But high levels of product inventories (particularly gasoline), along with still higher supplies, will limit any sustained crude gains, in our view. But way too many factors weigh on oil prices, from OPEC decisions and geostrategic tensions to the value of the U.S. dollar and seasonal variables, to definitively size up each one of them for their respective impact on prices.  In its latest release, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a less-than-anticipated increase in crude stockpiles, which rose by 800,000 barrels for the week ending October 23. However, current crude oil stocks, at 339.9 million barrels, still remain 9% above the year-earlier level as well as above the upper limit ...

Public Service Enterprise (PEG) reported operating earnings of 92 cents per share for the third quarter of 2009, four cents higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents. This was achieved by focus on improvement of the cost structure and hedging which offset a substantial portion of its lower demand. However it fell short by two cents from the year-ago figure of 94 cents. Revenue fell 18.3% year-over-year to $3 billion in the reported quarter. The downside came from all the three segments – PSEG Power, PSE&G, and PSEG Energy Holdings. In the reported quarter, PSEG Power clocked operating earnings of $339 million (67 cents per share) compared with operating earnings of $360 million (71 cents per share) for in the year-ago quarter. Performance was affected by a decline in demand (8 cents per share), migration of customers (4 cents per share) and trading (a penny ...

The Producer Price Index is down by 0.6% in September to 173.4 (1982=100), was expected to decrease by 0.1%, following an increase of 1.7% in August and a 0.9% decline in July. Over the year, the index has decreased by 4.8%.  The index for energy goods is down by 0.1% in September and prices for consumer foods declined by 2.4%.  Excluding food and energy prices, Core PPI fell by 0.1% after a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

Housing Starts in September grew by 0.5% to an annual pace of 590,000, less than the expected 608,000 pace, from the downwardly revised 587,000 in August (originally reported at 598,000).  Over the year the figure has declined by 28.2% from the September 2008 rate of 822,000.  Building Permits declined by 1.2%, over the month to 573,000, less than the expected 597,000 level, following 580,000 permits annualized in August.  Over

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Oil broke out of the $65-75 holding pattern of the last five months on strength of a declining dollar, speculation about rising consumer confidence, and potential growth next year in the global economy. Above $79 a barrel this morning before declining slightly, oil set a record high for this year of $79.05 and has been hovering just under that mark since.

As the market looks to 3Q profitability data from major retailers this week, including McDonald’s, Apple, Hasbro and Whirlpool, there is a strong desire to see overall consumption start to increase, which would further justify rising energy and commodity prices.

The dollar continues its decline, driving oil prices upwards, with the recent flap about China and Russia seeking to denominate oil in some other currency, calling its status as the reserve currency into question. This readily observable phenomena of the declining dollar is taken by many as a good

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The Consumer Price Index, or CPI rose 0.2% in September, down from a 0.4% increase in August and down 1.3% from a year ago. If food and energy prices are stripped out to get to core inflation, prices also rose 0.2%, up from 0.1% in August. Core inflation is up 1.5% from a year ago. On a year-over-year basis, those numbers are likely to flip in the coming months. Food prices actually declined slightly for the month, with a 0.1% decline in September reversing a 0.1% increase in August, and unchanged from a year ago. In particular, the price for food at home fell 0.3% in September after being unchanged in August. On a year-over-year basis, prices at the grocery stores are down 2.5%. This is not good news for firms like Kroger's (KR) and Supervalu (SVU). It is energy that is the big difference between ...

Initial Claims decreased by 10,000 to 514,000 claims for the week ending 10/10, not as much of a decline as the 508,000 figure our consensus estimate shows, following a decrease of 30,000 to 524,000 from the previous week.  The 4-week moving average was 531,500, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s moving average.  Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 10/03, was 5,992,000, a decrease of 75,000 from the preceding week's revised level, decreasing the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate down by 0.1% to 4.5%. 

The Consumer Price Index increased by 0.2% in September, as expected, to an index value of 215.969 (1982-84=100), more than the expected 0.3% increase, after increasing by 0.4% in August and remaining unchanged in July.  Over the year the CPI is down by 1.3%.  The food index decreased by 0.1% over the month, bringing down the food index by

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Denver, Colorado-based partnership MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MWE) has come back strongly from a rocky second half of 2008, when there were doubts regarding its ability to sustain distribution levels in the face of weak commodity prices and reduced access to credit. These concerns have largely been laid to rest following the partnership's improved liquidity position and growing signs of vitality in the credit and equity markets.  We believe that MarkWest's recent successful completion of a notes offering and formation of joint ventures have buttressed the partnership’s financial profile and provided it with sufficient liquidity to meet its near- to medium-term needs.  These favorable developments, in conjunction with the partnership's hedge program, have improved our confidence in MarkWest's ability to maintain current distribution levels (64 cents per unit, or $2.56 per unit annualized) over the next few quarters.  However, we believe that these positives are already ...

TransMontaigne Partners LP (...