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Cloud Peak Energy

  • Finding the Right Company to Invest in this Industry

    By Zain Abbas - May 15, 2013 | Tickers: ANR, ACI, CLD

    Coal demand has been squeezed since the sharp decline of natural gas prices. The decline in demand has caused a severe decline in the prices which has meant declining profitability for the coal companies over the last two years or so. To make situation worse, even the global demand for met coal is declining (due to declining demand for steel). This has given some tough time to coal players with more »

  • Constant Gravitational Attraction to Metals and Mining

    By Jeff Stouffer - May 14, 2013 | Tickers: AA, CLD, CMP, CNX, XME

    My ongoing search for investment strategies for my clients leads me to programs that absolutely do not work and may never, regardless of brand name and the people behind them. One such program is the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (NYSEMKT: XME). This exchange-traded fund, born on June 19, 2006, has posted a series of negative returns. The one-year return is -19.31%, the three-year return is -11.35 more »

  • Cloud Peak Energy, What Will Make it Peak?

    By Peter Epstein - May 3, 2013 | Tickers: ARLP, ACI, CLD, CNX, BTU

    Cloud Peak (NYSE: CLD) is a very good coal producer. As a result, its stock has held up far better than U.S. peers, many of which have been slaughtered. Only Alliance Resource Partners, (NASDAQ: ARLP) a coal MLP and Consol Energy, (NYSE: CNX) have performed better. Alliance has benefited most from the rebound in natural gas prices to above $4 per mcf from $2-$3 per mcf last year more »

  • Down Sharply from its 2011 High, Is Walter Energy a Buy?

    By Peter Epstein - May 1, 2013 | Tickers: CLD, CNX, BTU, WLT

    Forget the 52-Week Low, Walter Energy is Down 88% Since March 2011

    Few natural resource stocks have been hit as hard as Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT). Even among its peer group of horribly performing U.S. coal stocks, Walter is off considerably more than Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), Cloud Peak (NYSE: CLD) and Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX). Trading at about $17 per share, down from a high of about $141 more »

  • 2 Coal Stocks to Buy, 1 to Sell

    By Zain Abbas - April 19, 2013 | Tickers: CLD, CNX, BTU

    The recent rebound in natural gas prices depicted by Henry Hub natural gas prices has given investors some ‘food for investment.’ Moreover, Goldman Sachs has also revised its future estimate of Henry Hub gas from $4/MMBtu to $4.5/MMBtu. This has sent bullish signals in the coal market. Higher gas prices would definitely mean some shift back to coal from natural gas as a source of power. Let more »

  • 2 Coal Stocks to Buy, 1 to Sell

    By Zain Abbas - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: CLD, CNX, BTU

    The recent rebound in natural gas prices depicted by Henry Hub natural gas prices has given investors some ‘food for investment’. Moreover, Goldman Sachs has also revised its future estimate of Henry Hub gas from $4/MMBtu to $4.5/MMBtu. This has sent bullish signals in the coal market. Higher gas prices would definitely mean some shift back to coal from natural gas as source of power. Let’s more »

  • Mining for Value in Coal

    By Alvin Gonzales - December 14, 2012 | Tickers: ANR, ACI, CLD, JOY, BTU

    According to the EIA’s Annual Coal Report, released on November 8, the top four coal producers in the US for year 2011 were Peabody Energy Corp (NYSE: BTU), Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI), Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR), and Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE: CLD). Peabody, Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, and Cloud Peak Energy produced 18.5%, 14.6%, 10.6%, and 8.7% of the US’ total coal more »

  • Stuff Your Stockings With This Bargain MLP

    By Peter Epstein - December 11, 2012 | Tickers: ARLP, ANR, ACI, CLD, NRP, BTU

    MLP Relative Under-Performance Continues

    About ten days ago I wrote an article about Master Limited Partnership's, "MLPs." I warned Foolish investors that I'm not an expert in MLPs or trained in the tax treatment of owning MLP units and collecting distributions. The key point of this article was that if units of coal MLPs Natural Resource Partners (NYSE: NRP) and Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP) have sold off more »

  • Coal Price Weakness to Linger Longer

    By Peter Epstein - December 4, 2012 | Tickers: ARLP, ACI, CLD, NRP, BTU

    Hard to Know How Soon and How Far Coal Prices Will Recover

    There are a lot of moving parts driving the coal market, including: production strategies, industry costs, natural gas prices, utility inventories and the relative attractiveness of the country's coal basins. However, where the rubber hits the road is the key measure of coal market health, coal pricing. Foolish investors who follow coal stocks know that this is more »

  • Alliance Resource Partners, Best House in Bad Neighborhood

    By Peter Epstein - November 9, 2012 | Tickers: ARLP, ANR, ACI, CLD, CNX, BTU, WLT

    Alliance Resource Partners Looking Interesting, Down 12% on Obama

    I wrote a piece on Friday about coal MLP Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP). In this update for TMF, I will discuss the many attributes of Alliance on a standalone basis and relative to peer coal producers. This article will be substantially different from my other article, but the outcome is the same. I recommend investors buy Alliance Resource Partners on more »

  • Buy the Amazing Coal MLP Story

    By Peter Epstein - October 5, 2012 | Tickers: ARLP, ANR, ACI, CLD, WLT

    I've written a few times about the coal Master Limited Partnership Alliance Resource Partners, (NASDAQ: ARLP). While coal fundamentals have gotten even worse, the outlook for Alliance remains bright because of prudent management decisions made before the coal market tanked. I had a long conversation with a senior executive at Alliance on October 2nd, and I continue to be impressed with the company's strategy and execution. I came more »

  • Joy Global Deals with Slower Growth

    By RJ Towner - September 6, 2012 | Tickers: CAT, CLD, JOY, RIO

    On Wednesday, global mining equipment giant Joy Global (NYSE: JOY) reported poor fiscal third-quarter results and issued a sluggish outlook for the remainder of its fiscal year 2012. Revenue during the period increased 22% to $1.4 billion—about $30 million shy of consensus expectations. Operating income per share, excluding one-time costs, grew 16% to $1.79, which was much weaker than consensus estimates. However, quarterly results took a backseat more »

  • Oil Prices Up, Nat Gas Prices Down, Not Good for these Guys

    By Peter Epstein - August 21, 2012 | Tickers: ARLP, ANR, ACI, CLD, CNX, NRP

    Higher Costs, Lower Realized Prices

    After recently recovering to $3.2 per MCF, natural gas prices fell to $2.70 last week before bouncing to $2.8 per MCF, down 13%. Prices above $3 per MCF are a far cry from historical prices of $5-$6, but were a welcomed boost to sentiment in July. In April prices had dipped briefly below $2 per MCF. Meanwhile, in the past 2 more »

  • The Bull Case on Powder River Basin Coal Producer Cloud Peak

    By Peter Epstein - August 15, 2012 | Tickers: ANR, ACI, CLD, WLT

    While I'm not invested in coal producer Cloud Peak, (NYSE: CLD), it has proven to be a strong company. A knock on Cloud was its over-exposure to the Power River Basin (PRB). Given that 100% of Cloud's production is from the PRB, that concern was, and still is, warranted. Other knocks were that it had a short "reserve life" (coal reserves divided by annual production) and zero coking more »

  • The Bull Case on Powder River Basin Coal Producer Arch Coal

    By Peter Epstein - August 14, 2012 | Tickers: ANR, ACI, CLD, BTU

    While I don't own shares of Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI), shareholders are increasingly excited about its prospects. I wish I HAD owned it three weeks ago when the company announced 2nd quarter earnings. The stock was up 29% that day alone. Arch's earnings were nothing special, but better than feared. Peabody Energy, (NYSE: BTU) had kicked off earnings season a week earlier with a big miss, causing its more »

  • What's Required for Coal Fundamentals To Recover?

    By Peter Epstein - August 10, 2012 | Tickers: ARLP, ANR, ACI, CLD, CNX

    Plenty has been written about the, "perfect storm," that has caused coal markets around the world to crater. Much less has been written about what's needed for underlying coal fundamentals to improve in a sustainable way. Foolish investors need to know what to watch for if they're invested in coal equities or are looking to jump in. 

    What's Gone So Incredibly Wrong?

    It all started mid-to-late last more »

  • My Take on 5 U.S. Coal Producers in 724 words

    By Peter Epstein - August 9, 2012 | Tickers: ANR, ACI, CLD, BTU, WLT

    I've written a lot about coal markets and specific coal companies over the past year. My background is as a senior Industrials and Natural Resources sector analyst at a $3 billion hedge fund. I'm now an independent consultant. Since I left the hedge fund world, global coal stocks have been slaughtered. The following is my take on 5 U.S. based names.

    Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU): Starting with more »

  • Cloud Peak Energy: A Solid Long Term Play

    By Bobby Fisher - March 28, 2012 | Tickers: ACI, CLD, BTU, WLT

    Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE: CLD) recently formed in 2008 as a spinout of Rio Tinto, is the third largest coal producer in the United States. It may be the largest coal producer no one has ever heard of. The company operates in the Permian River Basin in Wyoming and owns some of the lowest cost coal mines in the United States. Earnings have grown 203% over the last twelve months more »

  • 6 Stocks Warren Buffett Could Buy Next

    By Christopher French - February 12, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, CLD, F, GM, MSFT, USG

    When Warren Buffett started out as an analyst at Ben Graham's firm, he was looking for net-net stocks. These were low return companies that were trading at less than their liquidation values. He changed his investment mindset when he met Charlie Munger. Since then, he was looking for high-quality companies but trading at reasonable prices. In this article, I will explore six stocks that meet Warren Buffett more »