If oil companies already made record profits in the 1st 3 months of the year, and stocks are based on earnings

Question

why do oil stocks continue to go down? most have been going up, but even during a (BS) supply and demand news-story the stocks have gone down (while the oil prices have gone up) You can't blame the oil companies because it is more the traders and speculators lack of knowledge, inconsistencies, stupidity, and ignorance.

Answer 1

True that stocks trade on earnings.  But it is future earnings that investors are buying when an investor becomes an owner through a purchase of stock.  It appears that investors do not expect oil companies to continue to book record profits.  There are so many uncertainties that these companies face: US legislation, nationalization of foreign wells, obsolescence from new technologies, shrinking in ground reserves, etc.  There is certainly not a tick for tick correlation between the price of oil and the stock price of oil companies.  Check out the ETF DUG for a short play on oil and gas companies.