Kodiak Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Kodiak Oil & Gas (AMEX: KOG  ) sank as much as 10.5% in intraday trading today as a Chinese rate hike and a strengthening dollar sent energy prices down.

So What: While small caps like Kodiak, ATP Oil & Gas (NYSE: ATPG  ) , and Stone Energy are getting smacked rather hard, energy stocks of all sorts have sold off. Big oil giants ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP  ) are all down more than 2%, while oil service stocks Weatherford (NYSE: WFT  ) and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) are down 7.5% and 3.5%, respectively.

Now What: China's surprise tightening has certainly raised concerns about global energy demand, but I'd use today's sell-off as an opportunity to nibble. Kodiak, in particular, remains a financially strong, up-and-coming play on the Bakken Shale, with an expected year-end exit rate of 2,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Of course, given the company's small size, Fools would do well to buy it in a group of bigger, more established producers.

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