Next week it’s oil, oil and more oil earnings. To know where the industry is going, forget profits and look at capital spending

Exxon Mobile (XOM). Chevron (CVX). Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A). BP (BP). ConocoPhillips (COP). Noble Energy (NBL) Apache (APA). Petro-Canada (PCZ). All these production companies report quarterly earnings next week.

Add in drilling equipment and oil service companies such as Smith International (SII), Oil States International (OIS) and National Oilwell Varco (NOV) and you’ve got quite a week for oil.

Move over technology, it’s time oil stocks get their fifteen minutes of fame. But what’s most important next week isn’t the topline earnings per share numbers that will grab the headlines. If you really want to see where the oil market and oil stocks are headed, concentrate on what these companies say about their capital spending plans for the rest of the year. That will tell you whether oil company CEOs think we’re seeing a real, sustainable economic recovery that will keep oil prices climbing or a temporary gusher that will dry up in a few months. Read more