ExxonMobil: Better Late Than Never?

In my Trader column over the weekend, I recommended staying away from ExxonMobil ( XOM ), in part, because it had failed to make an inquisition during the worst of the energy crisis . My timing, as always, was impeccable. Today, ExxonMobil announced that it had bought 250,000 acres in the Permian Basin, doubling its exposure to that fast-growing region of the U.S. Wells Fargo's Roger Read , the analyst I quoted in my column, offers his take: