Why Shale Oil's Boom Didn't Buoy Energy Stocks

The US shale oil boom has been one of the big economic stories of the past decade, reversing what many thought was an inexorable decline and transforming America into the world's biggest oil producer. But that progress hasn't translated into big market returns for US Energy firms. Perhaps counterintuitively, while production boomed in the last decade, Energy stocks sagged. In our view, this shows one seemingly big economic positive doesn't necessarily translate into hot market returns. We also think it shows the dangers of presuming the recent past predicts the future—something investors should keep in mind when weighing what to do with Energy from here.