McMoRan Exploration Shares Jumped: 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 McMoRan Exploration (NYS: MMR) have jumped 10% as oil prices scream higher.

So what: Oil-related stocks have taken a drubbing in recent days as the price of oil took a nosedive, but today is payback. The market has moved higher, and the price of oil has climbed 5.4%, pushing oil stocks considerably higher.

Now what: The price of oil has driven oil and gas stocks all over the place for the past week, and today they're just following oil's path upward. Since the move isn't company-specific I wouldn't get too excited about McMoRan by itself today.

But as a whole I think oil and gas stocks are very attractive based on the fact that oil prices are so low and are unlikely to stay depressed for long.

Interested in more info on McMoRan Exploration? Add it to your watchlist byclicking here.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.