Welcome to Commodity Traders - Information on Hot penny stocks

In the past six months, the Oil Service Index has climbed 14.96 percent while the Standard & Poor 500 index slipped 0.97 percent.

Crude oil topped $55 a barrel a week ago and remains near record pricing territory.

How high can it go? has become a common question for stock market analysts, investors, and oil producers and service companies.

Al Pitre of Al Pitre Investor and Media Relations in New Orleans, who provides investor relations for several Louisiana oilfield service companies, said $50 a barrel is not sustainable for the industry. But it has helped change investor perception of the value of oil field service companies.

Wall Street is now recognizing that the $30 to $35 range is sustainable and a positive for both producers and oil field service companies, Pitre said. You're definitely seeing a pickup in international oil activity and also an increase of work in the Gulf of Mexico. It's not an overwhelming growth but a steady growth. There is more utilization of equipment and more interest by producers in deep water and deep shelf right now.

CityBusiness surveyed four New Orleans stock market analysts and investors and asked what advice they would give to people who own stocks in the sector given the high price of oil and fluctuating energy prices.

Peter Ricchiuti, director of research for Tulane University

Oil stock advice: It's a situation of everyone wanting these stocks so badly and they have gone considerably up. It's really a perfect storm if you own oil companies with (Hurricane) Ivan, the threat of terrorism and also (political instability in) Nigeria going on. But even considering the success now, in 1979 when I started, the energy sector made up 25 percent of S&P 500. But now, it's only 7 percent. Diversification is always good in the long run. At the same time, energy executives are not getting the credit they deserve because they fight for every penny during cyclical times, and with the money coming in now, they know how to manage it.

Oil companies to watch: It may be good to take a look at companies like Offshore Logistics (OLG on the New York Stock Exchange) and RPC Inc. administration headquarters out of Houma (RES on NYSE), which has little coverage on Wall Street and is suited for drilling for natural gas domestically. Goodrich Petroleum, which ironically has the ticker symbol GDP, is out of Shreveport and has gone up 300 percent and has been a big winner this year. Omni Energy Services (OMNI on Nasdaq), out of Carencro, is another success as they do seismic work in sensitive environmental marsh areas.

John Morgan, New Orleans branch owner of Raymond James Financial Services

Oil stock advice: There are two sides of the fence going on here. If you're a long-term investor in the oil market, hold on to them because we have never seen anything like this before in our supply- and-demand equation where supply equals demand. And long down the road you may see more higher highs than lower lows in oil stocks. On the short-term side, you might see a near-term pullback, so it would be good to take some profits and get more defenses. Things don't go straight up.

Oil companies to watch: Oil companies I would focus on today are Apache (APA on NYSE), an oil and gas exploration and production company out of Houston; and two jack-up rig companies in Ensco and Rowan (ESV and RDE on NYSE), out of Dallas and Houston, respectively. These rig companies are benefiting from an increase in day rates.

Hugh Uhalt, managing director at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. in New Orleans

Oil stock advice: People just need to stop and think about their portfolio and ask themselves if their money is allocated properly. The oil and gas stocks will come down in time; don't let greed get the best of you when the market does well in one sector. People might want to take a look at large consumer stocks that have taken hits but have the potential to offer stable returns.

Oil companies to watch: It would be best to step back and wait for oil and gas equity prices to come down and reach more historic lines that we have seen before. It's just so tough to pick ones right now; you're playing with fire.

Joseph Vizzini, New Orleans branch manager for Sentra Securities and chief investment officer of Asset One LLC

Oil stock advice: Ascertain that your energy stocks can still pass reasonable valuation standards and that the fundamentals of the company are still good even at somewhat lower oil prices.

Oil companies to watch: The larger well-followed oil service company stocks seem fully valued at current prices. If you want to invest in this sector, look for a better value in the mid-cap or small-cap arena.