Coal Investment Opportunities

By Paulo Santos:It's hard to believe it, what with the large plunge in the aftermath of Obama's re-election, but there are reasons to believe the worst is behind for coal in the present cycle. Sure, over time added regulations might lead to a slow erosion of coal's market share, mainly due to less new coal-fired generation coming online, but with coal reestablishing its place as the cheapest fossil fuel for electricity production, there's little reason to think coal will go away.

The chart above shows the significant reduction in coal's share of total U.S.

By George Fisher: For electric generating utility owners, the ongoing seismic shift in fuels used for power generation will alter the utility investment landscape. In short: Coal is out, Natural Gas is in. Not only is the government and media pushing this addenda, but so is simple current economics.

Here's where America's 100-year supply of natural gas will come from:  From

Coal was one of the worst places to keep your money in 2012. The Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL) dropped more than 20% last year, trailing the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 35%.

By Energy and Capital: By Jeff Siegel For close to a decade now, six new coal-fired power plants have been in the planning stages... but regulations aimed at limiting mercury and greenhouse gas emissions are making it difficult for the power plants to start construction.At least, that's what the coal industry claimed in a Wall Street Journal piece earlier this week.

By Richard Shaw (QVM Group): Coal companies are very much unloved right now due to regulatory attack and exceptional price competition from natural gas as an alternative electric power generation fuel. They are down, but we do not believe they are out.The U.S. Dept. of Energy, Energy Information Agency says this: