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: It has been quite the week in the oil market. After a down day yesterday crude resumed its rally and it's now more than 6% higher in mid-afternoon trading. That's sending oil stocks soaring, including SandRidge Energy Inc, (NYSE: SD), which is up 15% today as the stock enjoys another double-digit jump. So far the recent rally in oil has taken SandRidge's stock up an incredible 60% in just the past five days.
So what: In addition to the crude oil fueled rally, SandRidge Energy did have some other news that might, or might not, be having an impact on the company's stock price. The company announced that board member Roy Oliver, Jr. resigned and that J. Mike Stice has taken his place. Stice is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience including serving as the CEO of Access Midstream Partners until it merged with Williams Partners late last year. Mr. Stice's expertise in the midstream sector could prove to be invaluable as SandRidge is looking to unlock the value of its own midstream assets through an IPO.
Now what: For the most part SandRidge Energy's surging stock price is due to a relief rally now that the price of oil has finally stopped descending. A higher future oil price is crucial to SandRidge Energy as its core development area really can't make all that much money on sub-$50 oil. Because of this, any big movement in the price of oil will cause an even bigger movement in SandRidge's stock price until the market gets more clarity on where oil will settle out for the longer term.
