Oil and Europe Weigh on the Market

Oil touches $100 per barrel for the first time in since July even as fears from Europe continue to weigh on global stock indices.

Playing the Oil Rush - My suggestion is to look at the price of oil (breaking out) and compare it to the sector, SPDR Energy ETF ($XLE). As oil rallies to new highs, XLE remains approximately 4% below its comparable high. This leads me to look at the Energy stocks as the better play right now. Even if oil falls back into the low $90's it will be high enough for great earnings for the Energy stocks.

Europe and Bond Yields - Yesterday the bond yields on many European countries bonds jump to spreads versus the stable German paper. We all know about Italy going above 7%, but then there is France with their highest spread versus Germany in nearly 2 decades. The newbies to that list include Austria, the Netherlands, and Finland - Spreads are increasing. This shows the true fear amongst the bond traders. Suddenly the US looks more stable every day.

Considering I was just in Finland yesterday, I can tell you firsthand that the economy does not appear too robust at this time. Across the sea in Tallinn, Estonia there was more going on than in the capital of Helsinki. More to come on what insights I came across on my business/research trip to Europe.