The cat is out of the bag. As oil prices fall below $60, the first of the Big Oil companies came clean by signalling poor result. Conoco said that its quarterly numbers would be poor due to lower crude prices. The company’s stock dropped 3% to $66.25. It is now down substantially from its recent high of $73 set on December 19.

Oil may well be going lower. If so, Conoco could move back toward its 52-week low of just above $55. Exxon, which trades around $73 could move back toward $60, and Chevron from its current price of $70 back toward $54. In other words, all three stocks could move toward 52-week lows if Q4 number come in poorly across the board.

Just a guess, but an educated one.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.