Devon Energy

Like they say: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. With the price of home heating oil on the rise, and likely to go on rising due to global politics, now might be a good time to place a bet on oil to hedge against the costs of keeping the homestead warm.

After a fairly quiet Monday, the crunch of quarterly reports resumes Tuesday, with reports expected from Coach, MasterCard, Molson Coors and Pfizer. Here's what to watch.

These days, everyone wants a piece of the rock -- domestic shale, that is. With oil-drilling costs north of $3.5 million per well and natural gas trading below $3, global energy companies are all about American shale. In November, Europe's second-largest supplier of natural gas, Norwegian-based...