S&P 500
7,615.20
-0.09%
Dow Jones
51,320.00
-0.10%
Nasdaq 100
30,651.40
-0.21%
Russell 2000
2,928.58
-0.15%
FTSE 100
10,383.00
-0.05%
Nikkei 225
68,424.20
+1.37%

Jobs

Cliffs Closes Coal Mine (CLF, PCX, CNX)

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Coal_imageAfter the market closed on Friday, Cliffs Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLF) announced that it was closing its Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia for the month of February. About 360 employees "will be affected." The closure will chop 85,000 tons of production from projected 2009 totals.

The Pinnacle complex produces metallurgical coal, which is used in themanufacture of steel. Sales of steel are way down, draggingmetallurgical coal producers with it. Earlier this year, Patriot CoalCorporation (NYSE:PCX) closed its Black Oak metallurgical coal mineuntil market conditions get better. Patriot had planned on 900,000 tonsof coal from the mine in 2009. Patriot also closed a thermal coal mineand warned about 400 workers of impending layoffs.

And a report at SteelGuru.comthis morning reveals that CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) is likely toclose its mining plant in Washington, Pennsylvania, idling about 277workers. The CONSOL plant also produces metallurgical coal.

Coal’s outlook for 2009 had been positive, if not exactly rosy. That picture may be darkening now.

Paul Ausick
February 2, 2009

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Continue Reading

Douglas A. McIntyre |

Patriot Beats Low Expectations (PCX, BTU, ACI, CNX)

Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE:PCX) reported fourth quarter and full year numbers this morning. Patriot’s report follows the trail blazed earlier…

Jon C. Ogg |

China Still Runs on Coal (BTU, ANR, CNX, BHP, RTP, YZC)

China consumed 864 million metric tons of coal in the first quarter of 2010. Thermal coal consumption to generate electricity…

Jon C. Ogg |

Commodities Watch: Why Coal Is Back In Favor With Goldman Sachs (PCX, BTU, CNX, WLT, TCK, KOL)

A Goldman Sachs analyst has raised the coal sector from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Attractive’ this morning. The big gainer was Patriot…

Why Coal Is Back From the Dead: 4 Stocks to Buy Now
Lee Jackson |

Why Coal Is Back From the Dead: 4 Stocks to Buy Now

There has been a big resurgence in coal use and demand, with prices being driven substantially higher by overseas demand,…

Paul Ausick |

Lower Coal Demand, Odd Investor Outlook (ANR, PCX, BTU, CNX, ACI, KOL)

US coal miners had a tough fourth quarter and most are expecting the same conditions for at least the first…

Paul Ausick |

How Bad are Coal Stocks? (JRCC, ACI, ANR, BTU, PCX, CNX)

Concerns about the global economic recovery and the ability of emerging markets, especially China, to keep growing are affecting prices…

Jon C. Ogg |

US Companies That Will Replace Japan’s Nuclear Generation Shortfall (BTU, ACI, ANR, CNX, XOM, CVX, COP, CHK)

Japanese officials have confirmed 4,340 dead and 9,083 still missing as a result of the earthquake and tsunami that hit…

Douglas A. McIntyre |

Less Demand, Less Coal, Less Profit (BTU, ACI, CNX, MEE)

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) yesterday reduced its production estimates for Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and for its Australian coal mining.…

Jon C. Ogg |

Bullish on Coal: Contrarian Dream or Nightmare? (ANR ACI, CNX, BTU, JEF, AAPL)

ThinkstockIf there is one great American industry that has been left for dead, it is the U.S. coal industry. With…

Top Gaining Stocks

Hewlett Packard Enterprise
HPE • Vol: 153,197,465
Enphase Energy
ENPH • Vol: 8,360,053
Corning
GLW • Vol: 18,152,646
Alexandria Real Estate Equities
ARE • Vol: 4,337,015
Aptiv
APTV • Vol: 6,761,325

Top Losing Stocks

Trade Desk
TTD • Vol: 21,905,513
Intuit
INTU • Vol: 7,383,018
Coterra Energy
CTRA • Vol: 73,319,495
Cboe Global Markets
CBOE • Vol: 5,000,011
HP
HPQ • Vol: 29,259,826