Doing the two step: Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by two this week to 1,929. The firm’s weekly report says that 1,582 rigs were exploring for oil and 346 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,742 active rigs. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Kansas gained five rigs, Oklahoma increased by four, Pennsylvania gained three and Louisiana gained two. Texas lost five rigs, New Mexico lost three and Ohio and West Virginia each lost two. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.
A pretty big deal: Plummeting oil prices are pushing some of the small-cap companies that flourished as part of the U.S. shale energy boom close to their breaking point, while also prompting some well-known fund managers to aggressively buy energy stocks. “The market is selling all of these companies, even if it’s clear that $75 a barrel oil is not going to affect every company the same,” says Mike Breard, an analyst who works on the Hodges Small-Cap fund, part of Dallas-based Hodges Capital. Bloomberg reports it’s a sudden turnabout for an industry that appears to be a victim of its own success. Read the full story.
Scaring up sales: Approximately 70% of all Americans will participate in Halloween this year, and they’ll spend an average of $74.72 on costumes, candies and decorations. The National Retail Federation forecasts total Halloween spending to be about $7.4 billion. Most of this amount is spent on costumes (38%); candies (30%); decorations (27%); and cards (5%). The $7.4 billion figure includes $2 billion for Halloween candy and $350 million for pet Halloween costumes. Spending on Halloween has risen by more than 55% since 2005. Examiner.com has the full story.
