{"success":true,"data":{"id":"48b2e626-025a-4757-ab04-3a9aa934868f","title":"Look on the bright side: Energy companies are booming","summary":"Site SearchClear Advanced Search ➔ Symbols No results found - All News - Articles - Video - Podcasts 0 Results No Results Found Authors No results found Sections No results found Columns No results found DJIA\\\\ \\\\ 52146.42\\\\ \\\\ -0.77% S&P 500\\\\ \\\\ 7457.69\\\\ \\\\ -1.01% Nasdaq\\\\ \\\\ 25520.24\\\\ \\\\ -1.","content":"Site SearchClear\n\n[Advanced Search](https://www.marketwatch.com/search?q=) ➔\n\nSymbols\n\nNo results found\n\n- All News\n- Articles\n- Video\n- Podcasts\n\n0 Results\n\nNo Results Found\n\nAuthors\n\nNo results found\n\nSections\n\nNo results found\n\nColumns\n\nNo results found\n\n[DJIA\\\\\n\\\\\n52146.42\\\\\n\\\\\n-0.77%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/djia?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[S&P 500\\\\\n\\\\\n7457.69\\\\\n\\\\\n-1.01%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/spx?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[Nasdaq\\\\\n\\\\\n25520.24\\\\\n\\\\\n-1.40%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/comp?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[VIX\\\\\n\\\\\n18.77\\\\\n\\\\\n12.19%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/vix?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[U.S. 10 Yr\\\\\n\\\\\n4.550%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/bond/tmubmusd10y?countryCode=bx&mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[Crude Oil\\\\\n\\\\\n82.47\\\\\n\\\\\n4.46%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/cl.1?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[Gold\\\\\n\\\\\n4023.00\\\\\n\\\\\n0.77%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/gc00?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n[Bitcoin\\\\\n\\\\\n64136.93\\\\\n\\\\\n0.03%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/cryptocurrency/btcusd?mod=ticker_ribbon)\n\n## Brett Arends's ROI\n\n# Opinion: Look on the bright side: Energy companies are booming\n\n## You can’t beat them. Maybe you should join them.\n\nFollow\n\nJuly 17, 2026, 5:08 p.m. ET\n\nAdd us on Google\n\nChoose MarketWatch as a preferred source of financial news\n\nResize\n\n![The U.S. Capitol Building shrouded in smoke from wildfires, with structures for an event in the foreground.](https://images.mktw.net/im-50089953?width=1260&height=840)Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Photo: Finn Gomez/Getty Images\n\n- [XOM\\\\\n\\\\\n+0.97%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/xom?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [CVX\\\\\n\\\\\n+1.91%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/cvx?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [MPC\\\\\n\\\\\n+2.21%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/mpc?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [VLO\\\\\n\\\\\n+3.13%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/vlo?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [XLE\\\\\n\\\\\n+1.16%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/xle?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [QQQ\\\\\n\\\\\n  -1.50%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/qqq?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [SPX\\\\\n\\\\\n  -1.01%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/spx?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [MAGS\\\\\n\\\\\n  -1.78%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/mags?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\n- [COMP\\\\\n\\\\\n  -1.40%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/comp?mod=refsymb_mw)\n\nThe air is choked with soot. Canada and Minnesota are ablaze in the scorching, dry heat. Cities and towns across America post record temperatures as global warming — “global roasting,” really — proves, once again, that it’s totally [a Chinese hoax](https://x.com/realdonaldtrump/status/265895292191248385?lang=en).\n\nAnd [“no big deal.”](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-energy-secretary-says-global-warming-is-no-big-deal-meanwhile-a-heat-emergency-is-striking-the-u-s-5f9674c3?mod=article_inline)\n\nOh, yes, and gasoline prices are breaking $4 again as the U.S.’s triumphant war with Iran continues.\n\nBut every cloud has a silver lining, even the cloud of wildfire smoke enveloping your city or town. In this case: U.S. oil-and-gas companies are making record profits, yet again. And their stock prices are booming!\n\nYou see? It isn’t all bad.\n\nMany of these companies’ top executives are making millions, even tens of millions, of dollars on their options, restricted stock and bonuses.\n\nExxonMobil\n\n[XOM\\\\\n\\\\\n+0.97%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/xom?mod=article_chiclet)\n\nhas added $97 billion to its market value since Jan. 1, according to FactSet. Chevron\n\n[CVX\\\\\n\\\\\n+1.91%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/cvx?mod=article_chiclet)\n\nhas added $62 billion.\n\nInvestors in Marathon Petroleum\n\n[MPC\\\\\n\\\\\n+2.21%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/mpc?mod=article_chiclet)\n\n, America’s biggest oil refiner, have earned a 90% return (yes, really) this year. Investors in Valero Energy\n\n[VLO\\\\\n\\\\\n+3.13%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/vlo?mod=article_chiclet)\n\n, the second biggest, 87%.\n\nAs you can see from this chart, big energy stocks are crushing the rest of the market so far this year. The State Street Select Energy ETF\n\n[XLE\\\\\n\\\\\n+1.16%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/xle?mod=article_chiclet)\n\nhas risen 28% since Jan. 1.\n\nThat’s twice as much as the Invesco QQQ ETF\n\n[QQQ\\\\\n\\\\\n-1.50%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/qqq?mod=article_chiclet)\n\n, an index fund that tracks the Nasdaq-100 index of top technology stocks\n\ncontent frame\n\n**An error has occurred**\n\n### Solve Your Money Problems\n\nFrom 401ks to social security, break down complex topics and plan with confidence.\n\nThe S&P 500\n\n[SPX\\\\\n\\\\\n-1.01%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/spx?mod=article_chiclet)\n\nhas risen just 9% and the so-called [Magnificent Seven](https://www.marketwatch.com/tools/multiple-quotes?tickers=googl%2Camzn%2Caapl%2Cmeta%2Cmsft%2Cnvda%2Ctsla&mod=article_inline)\n\n[MAGS\\\\\n\\\\\n-1.78%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/mags?mod=article_chiclet)\n\n, those heroes of yesteryear, a miserable 2%.\n\nSo much for all that excitement about technology and AI. Actually, energy stocks have crushed the rest of the market, including the Nasdaq\n\n[COMP\\\\\n\\\\\n-1.40%](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/comp?mod=article_chiclet)\n\n, for years.\n\nIn the past five years, the “XLE” fund has earned a total return, including reinvested dividends, of 183%.\n\nThe “QQQ” ETF: 101%. And the S&P 500: just 78%.\n\nAs we have mentioned [once](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/adding-these-stocks-to-your-401-k-could-protect-against-crises-like-war-with-iran-b802dd88) or [twice](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-case-for-having-big-oil-in-your-401-k-or-ira-05c2eef5) before, adding some energy stocks to your portfolio can pay off. Energy stocks have a habit of rising when bonds and the rest of the stock market are falling, because one of the things that causes that is an energy crisis.\n\nAnother reason to own energy stocks may be to help compensate you for global roasting. Yes, it would be better to persuade people to believe the evidence of their own eyes. But America is full of people insisting that climate change is nonexistent, even while they stand in dense clouds of smoke from burning forests, frying eggs on the hood of their car.\n\nOr as Chico Marx famously said: “Who are you gonna believe — me, or your own eyes?”\n\nYou can’t beat them, so join them. Otherwise you’re just railing in impotent fury at the companies frying the planet.\n\nThe bad news is that energy-stock prices are typically a good indicator of where oil and gasoline prices are heading. They are more closely correlated with next year’s oil futures than with today’s “spot” prices. So the rise of energy stocks isn’t a great sign that gasoline prices are due to fall anytime soon.\n\nThe more positive news is that right now may be a better time to take some profits on your energy stocks than to buy them. Using the State Street XLE as a basic proxy for the industry, they are currently selling for 2.47 times net asset or “book” value, which is well above the 20-year average (two times book value) and near typical peaks. The forecast dividend yield, meaning the dividends divided by the share price, is just 2.83% — again, well below averages and down sharply from the 3.6% at the end of last year. Stocks do not become better values when they get more expensive.\n\nWhether they keep rising is something only time will tell.\n\nMeanwhile, as the smoke from the Chinese hoax continues to choke American cities, I asked Cleveland Clinic pulmonologist Amanda Morgan this question: How worried should we be about our health?\n\nHer advice: Don’t panic, but be sensible.\n\nThose with respiratory issues should, obviously, avoid spending too much time outdoors in the smoke.\n\nAnd, she adds, so should everyone else. “If somebody’s generally healthy I usually say you should take the same precautions as patients who have underlying respiratory disorders,” she says.\n\nShe observes that [a study last year](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935125004724?via%3Dihub) found that forest fires around the world were typically followed by rises in the number of people visiting emergency rooms and being admitted to hospital, and to the number dying.\n\nBut denialists will point out that the study in question was a collaboration between three U.S. universities — Harvard, the University of Buffalo and the University of Washington — and institutions in _China_. So maybe it’s all part of the same hoax.\n\nCopyright ©2026 MarketWatch, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8\n\nAbout the Author\n\nFollow\n\nBrett Arends is an award-winning financial writer with many years of experience in writing about markets, economics and personal finance. He has received an individual award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for his financial writing, and was part of the Boston Herald team that won two others. He has worked as an analyst at McKinsey Co., and is a Chartered Financial Consultant. His latest book, \"Storm Proof Your Money,\" was published by John Wiley Co.\n\nShow Conversation (0)\n\nproducts.gobankingrates.com\n\n# products.gobankingrates.com is blocked\n\nThis page has been blocked by an extension\n\n- Try disabling your extensions.\n\nERR\\_BLOCKED\\_BY\\_CLIENT\n\nReload\n\ncontent frame\n\n# Your Market News, Your Way\n\nMake MarketWatch a Preferred Source on Google.","source_name":"MarketWatch","source_url":"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/look-on-the-bright-side-energy-companies-are-booming-546164fb?mod=mw_rss_topstories","url":"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/look-on-the-bright-side-energy-companies-are-booming-546164fb?mod=mw_rss_topstories","author":"Brett Arends","author_name":"Brett Arends","published_at":"2026-07-17T21:08:00.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-17T21:08:00.000Z","image_url":"https://images.mktw.net/im-50089953/social","category":"markets","topic":"markets","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":6,"word_count":1146,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot"}}