Editor's Note: The following article was written by Raymond James Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Saut. It has been reproduced with permission for the benefit of the Minyanville community.‘Tis the season... except in this case we haven’t quite yet entered the Christmas season. However we have entered the best six months of the year for the equity markets. Clearly history demonstrates that the November through April periods have on average shown superior stock market performance to that of the May through October half of the year.As our South African friend Dr. Prieur du Plessis notes “(Since 1950) the ‘good’ six-month period ...

A stream of earnings reports from Occidental Petroleum, Diamond Offshore, Noble Corp. and others failed to ignite buying in the sector as oil prices pulled back.

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday’s session are AT&T Inc., McDonald's Corp., and Merck & Co.

Energy stocks make gains, with shares of petroleum producers leading the move into the black on buoyant crude prices and strength in the broad equities market.

Vantage Drilling Company is a drilling company that might represent an investment opportuity for those with a higher risk appetite.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by WallStSense.com

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Benchmark Journal.