When I analyze any industry group I like to start by attempting to answer one simple question:

What are investors looking for?

In other words, it’s crucial to understand which quantitative metrics and/or stock characteristics drive stock market returns over time. Answer that one question and you’ll be well-positioned to select stocks that outperform their peers and the broader market.

However, these key metrics change over time and nothing drives changes in investor preferences quite like a bear market. That’s certainly been the case for the upstream energy industry in the wake of the big 2014 to 2017 bear market in oil prices.