A few years back, Prudential Securities got out of the investment banking business. It was widely expected that without the typical conflicts of interest that other diversified investment companies faced, Pru's research department would be less biased, and therefore produce more valuable recommendations for their clients.

So much for valuable research. Prudential lifted its view on the energy sector to overweight today, and slapped a buy rating on shares of ExxonMobil (it was rated neutral before). Evidently their energy analysts see something fundamentally favorable to the big oil stocks, as of this morning. I'm sure Pru's clients are thrilled with such a timely call.