If I was allowed to follow only one economic barometer—out of the scores of weekly and monthly reports out there—my pick would be oil, hands down and all day long. And why not? What other indicator can claim to fairly reflect domestic and global sentiment, geo-political trends, consumer spending, and even the weather, yet is also priced and traded 24-hours a day?

Right now, having shed 20% (or nearly $30 a barrel) in the past three months, this best-of-class barometer is clearly reflecting fear and despair about the economy from all corners of the world. In fact, the plummeting price of crude, as well as the outsized decline in energy stocks, is just one of the reasons why Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets, thinks it’s time to “bottom fish” the sector.

“Our call is for global growth to not melt down,” he says in the attached video clip, in which he explains his ”overweight” rating on the Energy Sector (NYSEARCA:XLE). “Clearly prices reflect a slowdown in earnings due to conditions in the U.S. and globally, but we think investors are under-appreciating what is going on in U.S. energy stocks in terms of share buy-backs and dividend growth. So we think there is a value proposal to owning energy right now.”

NYSE:XES, NYSE:XLE