Equipment Check:
The diverse oil group is seeing a bit of a divergence recently. No question it will be the second-best major S&P sector for a second consecutive year up more than 50% YTD. That will make it back-to-back years that the XLE advanced more than 50% reminiscent of technology, via the XLK, doing so in 2019 and 2020 up 50 and 44%. Some areas have contributed more over the last 3 months, notably the OIH rising 22% over the last 3 months compared to the XOP down 2% over the same timeframe. One can see that differentiating from the PRICE chart below as the XOP is 21% off most recent 52-week highs while the OIH is just 11% off its peak made on 11/11 with a bearish shooting star candle. It begs the question of if there will be a reversion to the mean and exploration plays catch-up or if this is a trend that has legs in favor of the equipment and services group. Advantage OIH as it is still above its 200-day SMA and Friday filled in a gap from Monday’s session.