Halliburton’s Surprising Rally: A Market Watcher’s Diary

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Diary Entry: March 14, 2025
Units of Coffee Consumed: 4. Minutes Spent Watching Oil Charts: 87. Number of Times I Considered Investing in Shovels During a Gold Rush: 1. (Still undecided.)

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) shot up 9.6% today like it had something to prove. I mean, who knew geopolitical chaos could be such a romantic catalyst?

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NATO vs. Russia: The Oil Chessboard

After last week’s “Oops, that drone definitely wasn’t supposed to land in NATO airspace” incident, the alliance declared they’d respond “robustly.” Translation: sanctions incoming. Russia, which supplies roughly 10% of global oil, might soon be playing hard to get. Again. Meanwhile, Trump urged Europe to stop buying Russian gas, which they’d apparently planned to keep doing until 2027. (Yes, even after all the drama. Europeans: 1,000 IQ energy.)

Market Whiplash Moments Today:

  • Russian diesel exports acting more restricted than my yoga pants post-Pizza Night
  • Brent Crude soaring above $67/barrel like a middle-aged man at a singles cruise
  • West Texas Intermediate hitting $63 and giving Texas-sized middle fingers to inflation forecasts

Halliburton, bless its leveraged little heart, isn’t exactly playing it safe. With $8.5 billion in gross debt and a balance sheet that could use a stiff drink, it’s the kind of stock that reacts to oil prices like my cat reacts to catnip. Volatile? Yes. Predictable? Hardly. But hey, who needs stability when you’ve got drama?

Halliburton: The Complicated Boyfriend of Stocks

Let’s address the elephant in the room: oil stocks aren’t exactly “in” right now. But hear me out. They’re like the spare pair of Spanx in your portfolio – not glamorous, but handy when geopolitical chaos gives you unexpected curves. Two reasons to consider HAL:

  1. It’s a hedge against the world burning down (literally). When tensions spike, oil prices follow, and HAL dances like it’s 2006 again.
  2. That 3% dividend? Basically free glitter in your financial smoothie. Who says capitalism can’t be sparkly?

Bottom line: HAL’s trading at 11.5x earnings, which feels less like a discount bin and more like finding your ex’s number in your contacts and thinking, “Maybe.” Not a love story – just math with benefits. 📈

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2025-09-23 21:52