Out Fox The $treet

Summary Shareholder approved the merger of Halliburton and Baker Hughes. Halliburton is moving forward with asset sales suggesting the U.S Justice Department is working towards a positive solution. The new Halliburton still trades at an attractive valuation providing potential alpha for the sector with the ultimate return based on oil prices. The recent shareholder approvals by Halliburton (NYSE: HAL ) and Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI ) place the megadeal one step closer to completion. The current oil market weakness causing the onshore drilling rig count reductions continue to hide the shareholder benefits of this merger. Not to mention, the current downturn is allowing both firms to cut costs that could improve margins during the next market boom. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long HIG. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The CEO of Halliburton ( NYSE: HAL     ) went on record during the first-quarter earnings call that he saw a turn in the North American energy markets. In fact, the CEO hadn't been that bullish on the area since late in 2011. He recently followed that up with an even more bullish claim that the market has definitely turned to full-growth mode. The question for investors is what to do with this information now that the stock has already soared to all-time highs and is trading up to $74 from only $40 this time last year. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long HAL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.