Oil Matters?

There comes a point to the upside where oil matters to the stock market. $61 or so was not a problem but it seems like this last run up has rattled stocks.

This morning on Squawk Box guest host Noah Blackstein said he has been wrong about oil. I am not sure if that means he has no oil exposure (which is possible as he is a growth fund manager) or he meant he does not have enough oil exposure.

This can be a good lesson for people that manage their own money. If a year ago you decided the run in oil is over and can't go on but still owned some oil stocks you captured some of the energy effect. If you drew this conclusion and had no energy exposure whatsoever, you have made keeping up with the market tougher than it needed to be.

Having zero in one of the S+P groups does not allow for the I could be wrong part of the job. Until recently I had been very negative on tech (although I have bought tech recently I am still underweight) but I had some exposure in case I was wrong. This is important, anyone that manages any kind of money is going to be wrong now and then. That's just a fact of life that can't be altered, but you can manage the consequences of being wrong by maintaining proper diversification.

Energy and foreign are doing well this afternoon. Today I am more right than wrong, we'll see about tomorrow.