Company: Nabors Industries Ltd

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum was among the first major U.S. oil drillers to make a big bet on the resurgence of domestic production, spending billions to grab oil patches from Texas to North Dakota.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum was among the first major U.S. oil drillers to make a big bet on the resurgence of domestic production, spending billions to grab oil patches from Texas to North Dakota.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum was among the first major U.S. oil drillers to make a big bet on the resurgence of domestic production, spending billions to grab oil patches from Texas to North Dakota.

Stocks pared their gains in the final hour of trading but still kicked off the first day of May on a positive note, with the Dow hitting its best closing high since December 2007, fueled by a better-than-expected manufacturing report.

Stocks closed in negative territory Thursday, on track to log its worst week this year, as economic concerns over China and the euro zone overshadowed a better-than-expected jobless claims report.

From the entire S&P 500, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest pops?

Stocks ended in the red Wednesday in thin trading amid ongoing concerns over the euro zone debt crisis and as investors took a breather following the strong run-up that propelled major averages to multi-year highs.

Huge pay packages such as retention deals and bonuses for incoming, current, and even exiting CEOs have critics calling corporate boards "tone deaf," USA Today reports.

Scores of CEOs depart the corner office with huge exit packages. But recent big-dollar deals are raising eyebrows even among those accustomed to oversized payouts, USA Today reports.