Last May, I discussed the possibility of a turnaround for oil & gas exploration and production (E&P) companies. Higher production and cost control measures led to positive earnings estimate revisions.

Three months later, the trend continues. Production levels, particularly in the North Sea and the Middle East, are increasing. Costs continue to be reined in. And analysts are raising their full-year profit forecasts further. During the past few weeks, 292 profit forecasts have been increased.

Commodity Prices Playing A Role

Rising oil prices are helping. Though significantly down from last year (crude peaked at $147.27 on Jul 11, 2008), crude rebounded throughout the second quarter. Furthermore, given the likelihood of economic expansion in the coming months, it is probable that a floor for oil prices has been set.

Natural gas prices may have hit a bottom. Natural gas started the year at $6.50 per million BTU and fell

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When you invest in a stock, one of the best things you can see is analysts raising their expectations about what the company is going to earn for the current fiscal year. There are several ways of measuring this, but the following is a list of the companies with the biggest increases in their consensus earnings expectations for this year over the last month.

To make the list, a company had to have a current mean (average) estimate of over 50 cents, be a member of the S&P 500 and have at least three estimates for this year. The 50-cent restriction was put in to prevent small dollar changes that are huge percentage moves from dominating the list (going from a penny expected to a nickel). Having 3 or more estimates also helps insure it was not a fluke. The S&P 500 restriction was put in to make sure we

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