Coal Stocks Continue Free Fall!! Alpha Natural Resources(ANR) Options Honey?!! By: Tim Bolger

Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) acquired Massey Energy a few years back and has continued to slide alongside the entire Coal sector over the past 12 months. The stock is down over 70% in the past 12 months and is lighting up on my radar as a potential big long term investment opportunity. It has been a very warm winter in the NorthEast and that is not a good environment for Coal stocks…But, are coal stocks hitting a near term bottom?! Legendary Omaha, Nebraska Investor Warren Buffett has made many of his best investments when a sector is out of favor and trading at cheap valuations, but have great long term fundamentals.  Presently, I am seeing lots of value in Coal stocks and think the big slide over the past 12 months may be nearing an end.

Attached is a profile on Alpha Natural Resources(ANR) courtesy of Yahoo Finance: Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in producing, processing, and selling steam and metallurgical coal in the United States. The company has mining operations in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Wyoming. As of December 31, 2011, it owned or leased approximately 4.7 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves; and operated 145 mines in northern and central Appalachia and the Powder River basin. The company is also involved in repairing and reselling equipment and parts used in surface mining; manufacturing particulate scrubbers and filters for underground diesel engine applications; rebuilding underground mining equipment; and providing coal and environmental analysis, and degassing services. In addition, it engages in the sale of non-strategic assets, such as timber, gas, and oil rights, as well as the lease and sale of non-strategic surface properties and reserves; coal brokerage; and road construction business. The company serves electric utilities, steel and coke producers, industrial customers, and energy traders and brokers. Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Abingdon, Virginia.

What is the Options play on Alpha Natural Resources(ANR)?! ANR stock is trading at $16.64(10:29 Est Standard Time) and is down close to 70% in the last 12 months. Is now the perfect time to load up on the stock and options??

Trade#1: I would consider buying the ANR September 21, 2012 $19 strike Call Options for $1.60 a contract. Attached are the Sept. 21, 2012 Options Chains courtesy of Yahoo Finance:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/op?s=ANR&m=2012-09.  I can buy 10 contracts for $1,600 plus trading fees. That will get me long exposure to 1,000 shares of ANR at a strike price of $19. If Coal stocks recover over the next 6 1/2 months, ANR may be poised to lead this sector higher and outperform a majority of coal stocks. I am looking for ANR to trade $28 or higher by the September 21, 2012 Options expiration date. Hopefully, it will be a hot summer and that will be good for coal stocks, if Air conditioning use sky rockets. At $28 a share, my contracts will be worth $9.00($9.00x 100 shares per contract=$900 each) or greater. $900 x10 contacts=$9,000. Let’s hope this Coal slide comes to an end shortly and reverses course. Good luck to all the Coal and ANR Bulls!!! For more conservative longer term investors, I like buying shares of ANR stock at $15.00 or less.

Trade#2: I am an ANR Bull and would consider selling the ANR April 20, 2012 $15 strike Put Options for .90 cents a contract. Attached is the April 20, 2012 Options Chains on ANR courtesy of Yahoo Finance:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/op?s=ANR&m=2012-04. If I Sell 10 Put Option contracts, I will credit $900 to my brokerage account. 10 contracts x $90 per contract=$900. Remember, that we need $15,000 in cash reserves in our brokerage account in order to place this trade. The $15,000 is for the worst case scenario in which we get exercised on the 10 Put Option Contracts we sold (10 contracts x 100 shares=1,000 shares) of ANR at the $15 strike price at expiration. We will only get exercised on the shares of ANR if the stock trades below $15 on the expiration date. Either way, I am comfortable getting long shares of ANR stock at $15 and selling the Put Option contracts will help finance $900 towards my potential purchase of the $15,000 in stock. Go ANR Bulls and remember that Options are risky financial instruments. Please consult your investment advisor before buying or selling any Options/Equity Securities.

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See Below a 1 year chart on Alpha Natural Resources(ANR) courtesy of BigCharts.com: