Out Fox The $treet

After a year when Natural Gas inventories hit record levels, it might surprise people to see that the weekly report is now showing inventory levels only 0.7% above the 5 year average. In fact, the important East market is 2.4% below that average. With weak industrial demand, its likely surprising to most that storage levels are now inline with normal trends. Alot of the burn down has been due to the gruesome weather especially the record snows in the East. Regardless, though the more normal inventory levels set us up for higher prices as demand returns. To us, the natural gas stocks still reflect a return to prices in the $6-7 range and therefore we are more bullish on coal. For electricity demand or thermal coal, we remain bullish on Cloud Peak Energy (CLD). A return to higher natural gas prices will push more utilities back to goal as a substitute fuel. Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) is another favorite, but we like it most for its coking coal used in making steel. Both will benefit ...

Interesting news from India on the coal front. Further signs of the value in having commodity assets with the growth of India and China. The Telegraph highlights the growing demand for imported coal as an issue with coal production in India. At least this time its production, but we all know that demand will surely grow. These reports how India is likely to remain behind the curve. Maybe they should make domestic coal prices more expensive and hence the local production might just magically increase. The increase from 59mt in 2009 to 65mt in 2010 to 81mt in 2012 doesn't seem overly aggressive, but in a market where you're now competing with a global recovery and China importing massive amounts of coal. Any additional pressure will spike prices for any remaining production. Coal India seems to have aspirations for the global energy stage, but for now they remain in the minor leagues. This other article talks about them looking to invest over $2B in overseas assets, but it app...

That might sound counter intuitive especially considering that the utility canceling the contract was just about all of the 2011 and 2012 production for the Decker Coal partnership. As I'm writing this, Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) is up 6% to a a new high of $16+. Stone Fox Capital was very bullish on this IPO even after it cratered into the $13s from a original expected range of $16-18. [Buy Cloud Peak Energy as it Trades in the Valley] This was mainly due to this expected contract cancellation with an eastern utility company. Of course on face value it seems bad that the only customer of this partnership would cancel services (ok its a buyout), but in reality in the commodities sector its all about the resources and not the contracts. In fact, the lack of a contract can be beneficial as prices continue to soar and your able to sell into the spot market. Coal might not have a big spot market, but places like China are cutting electricity use due to a lack of coal supplies. You tellin...

Coal companies were hit hard intraday becuase of supposed weak coal import data from China. Guess the data was negative or positive depending on how one viewed it. On one hand the imports were down 11% from September. On the other hand they were up 220% over last year. Apparently the market was looking for a number similar to Septembers. Regardless the YOY gains are enormous and the month to month numbers are bound to fluctuate. The trend still appears for bullish for longs. Companies that we like such as Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) and the new IPO Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) were all hit hard today especially in comparison to the strong gains in the market. ANR was down 5% from its high around the opening bell. U.S. coal mining shares fell on Monday after data showed China's coal imports dropped 11 percent in the last month, even though exporters expect a booming market in the Pacific region for the next few years. Indeed, the latest official Chinese customs data showed coal impo...

The Cloud Peak Energy IPO (CLD) priced last night at $15 which was below the original range of $16-18. Very perplexing considering the commodities sector and especially coal stocks have been very hot of late. Then Reuters published some analyst comments that made us more bullish. Basically the analysts are concerned that the proceeds are going back to Rio Tinto (RTP) and that the deal was overpriced and coal demand is uncertain. Huh? Are they serious? Why has Peabody Energy (BTU) and Massey Energy (MEE) rallied so hard lately? This really seems like Wall St playing games with a forced seller. RTP needs the money to reduce it's debt load. CLD is clearly not overvalued as both BTU and MEE sport PEs in the 20s while CLD starts in the 7-8 range. If anything CLD is extremely undervalued. Gillette, Wyoming-based Cloud Peak raised about $459 million but almost all of the proceeds will go to Rio Tinto, which will retain a 48.3 percent stake in Cloud Peak. Rio Tinto is saddled with debt st...

Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) is an IPO spin off from Rio Tinto (RTP) that has huge potential. By all accounts, the deal will be cheap as evidently RTP needs the cash. The deal is expected to price in the $16-18 range giving it a7 PE multiple. Very odd considering the PE multiples in the 20s that most coal producers trade at currently. CLD is completely focused on the Power River Basin (PRB) area in Wyoming and Montana. The surfice coal in the PRB is much easier to mine then the mountaintop mines in the East and especially in Central Appalachia. Also, the coal is 'cleaner' then the East because of lower sulfur amounts. Now honestly just about every other energy option is 'cleaner' then coal such as natural gas, solar, and wind. Unfortunately coal is the cheapest option and the US along with emerging economies like China and India are somewhat stuck using it so demand is expected to grow. Another issue with the Central Appalachia is that it has declining reserves and faces reg...