Anybody get the number of that truck?

Energy stocks have certainly taken it on the chin in October.

Lots of questions: is is Refco, the shoulder season, real demand destruction, speculative positions blowing out, or even fears of what Avian flu could lead to?

I suspect it's some measure of all of the above.

Will stellar earnings turn it around?

It certainly seems like it should stablize energy stocks, if not bump them up somewhat, but at a moment like this, things don't always work the way you expect, particularly in the short term. But hey, we won't have to wait long to see!

On an administrative note, I'm going to be busy with a few other projects over the next few months, so the posting will be somewhat infrequent during that period.

Some articles of interest:

theStreet: Is Refco Burning Oil?

RIA Novosti: Abolishing Gazprom's 'ring fence' and Russia's big bang.

Motley Fool: Oh, Canada's Oil Sands.

Barron's: Suncor's Oil Patch Advantage.

but..

Reuters: Expert lambastes Canada's massive oil sands play. [Matthew Simmons saying oil sands waste natural gas. He's right..]