As Adam and I have been saying, it was only a matter of time before oil prices spiked higher. After all, it wasn't long ago that we were calling $50 a barrel a great buying opportunity.

As I write today, crude oil prices traded above $55 a barrel as the combination of cold renewed tensions in Iran and Lebanon push prices higher. For all you WOW readers, definitely maintain your oil-related call positions.

In other news, I continue to find it remarkable how little Wall Street cares about Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ). In fact, the movements of MSFT are becoming increasingly more and more irrelevant to the Nasdaq -- as names like Google, Yahoo!, eBay, and Apple have taken over that crown.

Take today's MSFT trading, for example. The headline you'll read tonight will say something like “MSFT Shares hit four-year high on optimism for Vista, Office” but an insider look spins a totally different story.

In August of 2005, for example, shares of MSFT were trading for $28 per share. And ever since then, MSFT investors have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of their newest Vista and Office operating systems -- suffering through frustrating delays and setbacks along the way.

Today there was intense optimism that new Windows and Office programs will give MSFT a big boost in 2007. At the same time, MSFT reported that its sales rose 6%, from $11.84 billion to $12.54 billion. This figure beat Microsoft's own forecast and the expectations of Wall Street analysts.

And on this exciting news, shares of Microsoft rose an entire 1.3%.

Stop my feet from dancing (note sarcasm).

Oh, and as for that “multi-year” high?

MSFT is trading today for $30 per share.

Remember, since MSFT got as high as $28 per share back in August of 2005, I suppose this is “technically” a multi-year high.

But common, that's grossly underperforming the Dow.

MSFT, my friends, is now irrelevant.