S&P 500 Energy Earnings Still Energetic

The S&P 500 Energy sector has been weak recently, but it is still the only one of the index's 11 sectors with a gain so far this year at 28.0% ytd. Here are a few quick takeaways:(1) The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil has been volatile around $100 recently and looking toppy. The outlook has become extremely controversial. On July 1, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst warned that this price could reach a “stratospheric” $380 a barrel if US and European penalties prompt Russia to inflict retaliatory crude-output cuts. On July 5, analysts at Citi warned that the price could tumble to $65 by the end of the year if an "increasingly likely" recession hits the global economy.