Placing Bets on Energy

WHEN crude oil sailed above $140 a barrel, analysts forecast even higher prices, virtually without dissent. Four months have passed, crude has fallen below $50, and now a rally generally seems to be considered almost out of the question.

Betting against the consensus by selling energy stocks would have paid off several months ago, and the opposite play, equally contrarian, might be profitable now. Shares of many suppliers of oil and natural gas have lost half their value or more in the stock market

New York Times