(This is The Best Stocks in the Market, brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — Let’s talk about when good things happen to dormant stocks. Usually the gap is even larger. This is because while the holders saw the news and decided they were not interested in selling, the fortunes of the company could suddenly change and a completely new buyer suddenly appeared. This creates an air pocket between the previous day’s closing price and today’s opening price. We call these air pockets “gaps,” and gaps are very troublesome. The important thing to know about gaps is that they are similar to snowflakes. No two gaps are exactly the same. It is necessary to consider the circumstances in which the gap appears. Did the gap occur during an uptrend or a downtrend?Are gaps in stock prices likely to occur due to the regular inflow of news from overseas? How meaningful is the size of the gap? Did the price gap break above previous resistance or below previous support? What kind of volume was associated with it? Given the huge number of variables I listed above (and all the others I didn’t understand), you can imagine all the possible implications of a wide-open stock price. Understand that there are no simple, hard and fast rules when it comes to gaps. The list of the market’s best stocks now includes a number of energy stocks that rose in rank on Monday following the military operation to remove Venezuela’s corrupt dictator. People are excited about the possibility of US energy companies putting in the investment and infrastructure to demonstrate oil reserves of more than 300 billion barrels (!), the largest reserves on earth. Sean and I will be looking at Chevron (CVX), Baker Hughes (BKR), and Valero (VLO), three gappy oil stocks that are on our radar. Best Stocks to Watch: Energy Sean — We are not geopolitics experts, but we are price researchers, and there are clear catalysts in the sector that are impacting the price of energy stocks. Before the Venezuela news hit the headlines, four energy companies were on the list: Baker Hughes (BKR), Phillips 66 (PSX), Valero (VLO), and Exxon Mobil (XOM). The recovery in the energy sector associated with these developments has added three names: Halliburton (HAL), SLB Ltd. (SLB), and Chevron (CVX). The latter are considered by many to be the common beneficiaries of the situation in the South. Energy has been an unpopular sector of the market over the past year, according to our Momentum screen. You don’t want to jump at the first catalyst that comes to mind. We’ll also take a look at the best charts to focus on from our list, as some charts seem better than others. Basically, there’s a lot going on in CVX right now as the price is falling. First, Chevron acquired Hess in July. The deal was valued at $53 billion, making it one of the 10 largest energy deals in history. This gives the company access to upstream operations in the United States, Guyana and Malaysia, as well as operations in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. When it comes to Venezuela news, CVX is the only major US oil company still operating in Venezuela under certain US sanctions licenses. However, there are currently many variables, as Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is aging and production capacity is far below historical levels. Chevron was added to the list after the change in administration, but it’s not Chevron that I want to focus on today. Price trends seem to be in turmoil, and it will likely take some time for things to improve. As Josh pointed out, gaps require attention and this is a difficult problem. Next, let’s discuss two of the best companies in the group… Valero Energy Corp. (VLO): Sean — Valero Energy is an oil and gas refining company. VLO is one of the largest independent oil refiners and operates a network of retail and wholesale oil distributors. Valero’s fundamentals have been a bit volatile, but have improved recently. The company returned to profitability after posting a net loss in the first quarter of 2025, with sales of $32.2 billion and net income of $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Operating income is on an increasing trend through 2025, with refinery utilization reaching 97% and utilization rates recorded in the Gulf Coast and North Atlantic regions. Josh — I’ve written about this name before, but it was a horse. It is the best of the three major refiners and will continue to function as long as gasoline demand remains strong. Technically, investors can stay above the recent support at $155-$160, which was also support back in September, for a long time. Traders playing this gap-and-go are already being rewarded, as VLO hasn’t given anything back since the Venezuela incident that started this week. If they want to pet it, they could use the bottom price of the gap ($177) for risk management, but that obviously comes with whiplash risk. I use the rising 50 days ($172) instead. Remember, this is an art, not a science. Baker Hughes Co. (BKR): Sean — Baker Hughes (BKR) is a global energy and industrial technology company providing equipment, services and software across oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), power generation and emerging energy markets. The company achieved meaningful financial turnaround and margin expansion, with adjusted EBITDA nearly doubling from $2.4 billion in 2020 to $4.6 billion in 2024, margins increasing from 11.4% to 16.5%, and margins accelerating further to 17.7% in Q3 2025 as revenue grew to nearly $28 billion. BKR also has a record $32 billion backlog in the industrial and energy technology sector. BKR has an interesting position in the market as it diversifies its revenue beyond pure energy, with diversification across LNG, long-term AI power demand, decarbonization and industrial technology capabilities. Josh — I think BKR is retesting the gap. The highs we saw earlier this week were not fully back to December highs. This shows that unless there is a significant violation of more than $50, there is not much certainty here. When strong volume exceeds that level, you get my full attention. If you simply need to own this, $43 is your line. This is our first support since the fall. Nothing good happens below that level. Disclosure: (none) All opinions expressed by CNBC Pro contributors are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, its parent or affiliate companies, and may have been previously disseminated on television, radio, the Internet, or another medium. The above is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice or a recommendation to purchase any securities or other financial assets. The Content is general in nature and does not reflect any individual’s unique personal circumstances. The above may not be appropriate for your particular situation. Before making any financial decisions, you should strongly consider seeking the advice of your own financial or investment advisor. Investments involve risk. The analysis examples included in this article are examples only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Ritholtz Wealth Management, LLC. Josh Brown is the Chief Executive Officer of Riholtz Wealth Management and may maintain securities positions in the securities discussed. 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