Chris Mayer on Coal

From Agora's 5 Minute Update earlier this week:

“The U.S. market is the only one where coal prices are not at multiyear highs,” Chris Mayer reminded us in his latest agorafinancial.com “quick take.”

“U.S. coal companies are sucking wind right now,” writes Chris, queuing off of a recent WSJ story. “The only coal company to show any strength in its earnings was Consol, because it was able to sell its Northern Appalachia coal for higher prices.”

But the fragmented industry is ripe for consolidation, and at least in the next five-10 years, coal isn’t going away. “The coal biz looks crappy now,” says Chris, “but that’s often a good time to start building long-term positions.” An admitted history buff, one of Chris’ favorite contrarian energy players was the one-armed, brick-makin’, self-trained oil sleuth Pattillo Higgins.

Agora Financial