Mid-Day Trading, For Investors Only; EOG Surges

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EOG surges over 2%; trading at new high. No specific headline news but the tea leaves predicted this. 

Oasis up over 1%.

KOG: up slightly; flat.

Wow: nineteen (19) companies announce increased distributions or dividends, including Williams Partners, Southern (SO), NRG Energy, Noble Energy, Marlin Midstream, Kinder Morgan (KMP).

On a day that the market is in negative territory, look at the companies trading at new 52-week highs (see if you note a trend): BHI, BRK (A & B), CAT, CLR, CVN, EOG, ERF, HAL, PSX, SLB.

In addition:

• UNP: flat
• ENB: barely green, but near its 52-week high
• EPD: barely red, but at its 52-week high

New home sales declined 14.5% in March from an upwardly revised 449,000 (from 440,000) in February to 384,000. The Briefing.com consensus expected home sales to increase to 455,000. March sales were the lowest since 373,000 new homes were sold in July 2013. Winter weather conditions, which were unduly blamed for softness across the economy, again showed little effect in the new home sector. The return to more normal temperatures, which should have boosted sales from pent up demand, resulted in the weakest demand since the middle of last year.

SD is up almost 4%, trading at a new 52-week high, also.

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TMS -- One Of The Best Shale Plays In The US? --  Motley Fool

The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale isn't exactly a name that has been associated with America's shale boom like the Bakken or the Eagle Ford, but Goodrich Petroleum's recent discovery there proved it to be very economical. Goodrich's recent well results were so good that it's even had a major effect on the stock price of Halcon Resources and the only thing they have in common is that they have abutting acreage in this shale formation. 

While the geology of the region has been challenging for drillers so far, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale has one distinct advantage over the almost all other shale formations in the U.S.: its location. In the video below, find out why the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale's location in Louisiana and Mississippi could make it one of the belles of America's oil ball.

GDP is surging, up another 6% today. HK is up about 3% today.

CHK: hit a new 52-week high, over $29; up about 2% today.