Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) has recently opened an office in Jakarta, Indonesia, to expand business development and coal sourcing opportunities in India, China and other fast-growing Asian markets.  Indonesia is the world's largest source of export thermal coal and the Pacific markets are driving global demand for coal. The company expects these markets to achieve 5% to 10% compound annual growth over the next five or more years. For instance, India is world’s fastest-growing coal importer and is expected to be short by about 200 million tons of coal in the next five years. Also, China - the world’s largest coal consumer - has been importing coal at a record pace in 2009.  Peabody’s Jakarta office will be run by Reynard Hanoppo, a former sales manager for coal producer PT Kideco Jaya Agung. Hanoppo will report to Phillip Smith, the managing director of Asian trading. ...

St. Louis-based Patriot Coal (PCX) is a leading coal producer in the eastern U.S., having substantial thermal as well as metallurgical coal reserves in the Appalachian region. Appalachian coal receives a premium to other regions in the U.S. due to high heat content (i.e. high Btu). Besides producing high-quality thermal coal, this region is known for its metallurgical coal reserves. Additionally, the relative proximity of the Appalachian Basin to the European and the Asian markets further adds to its attractiveness to foreign buyers. Patriot Coal has handled the challenges arising from a depressed coal market well by rescheduling production plans, idling high-cost mines, optimizing longwall developments and relocating equipment and miners to higher-margin mines. These actions have strengthened the competitiveness of the company and preserved coal assets for a better pricing environment in the future. Globally, energy prices have started showing initial signs of recovery, ...

Yesterday, Sasol Ltd. (SSL) reported better-than-expected results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, aided by robust performance from the company's energy businesses, partly offset by weak chemical operations. The South Africa-based petrochemicals group reported headline earnings per share, excluding one-time items, of R25.3 ($3.40), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.00.  However, on a year-over-year basis, Sasol's adjusted earnings per share fell 33%, hurt by lower oil and chemical product prices, partially offset by a weaker Rand/U.S. dollar exchange rate. Operating profit declined more than 27% to R24.7 billion.  South African Energy Cluster  Within its South African energy cluster, Sasol Mining's operating income was up 14% to R1.6 billion, aided by increased turnover on the back of higher coal prices.  Sasol Gas generated operating profit of R2.4 billion, up 36% year-over-year, driven by higher gas prices and stable sales volumes.  Sasol ...

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Wednesday August 5, 2009

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Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) today announced that Jim Kleckner, Vice President, Operations, will present at the 2009 EnerCom Oil & Gas Conference in Denver, Colo. on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 10:30 a.m. MDT. A link to the webcast presentation will be available at www.anadarko.com. The replay also will be available on the company’s Web site for approximately 30 days following the event.

Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE:TRA) today confirmed receipt of a letter from CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in which CF Industries indicates that it is “prepared to enter into a merger agreement under which each Terra share would be exchanged for 0.465 of

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State-run utility behemoth Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEP) recently reported strong results for the second quarter. The company registered net profit on account of lower fuel costs and strong Korean won. Fuel costs fell due to lower oil prices.

In the quarter, Korea Electric recorded a net profit of 240 billion won ($192.8 million) beating the consensus forecast of 461.6 billion won loss, compared with a net loss of 763.61 billion won, a year ago. Last year, the company suffered due to record escalation of feedstock costs. Korea Electric absorbed a 42% and 72% rise of LNG and coal costs, respectively, in the year-ago period.

Quarterly sales increased 7.4% year over year to 7.37 trillion won. This was boosted by higher demand coupled with two regulatory rate hikes of 4.5% and 3.9% in November 2008 and June 2009, respectively. The company registered an operating income of 233.6 billion

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A report has found that Russia's number of wealthy people fell by 28.5% last year, which is nearly twice as much as the average level across the globe.  The World Bank and the OECD have stated that Russia's economy would shrink by approximately 7.9% in 2009, rather than the 4.5% they had earlier predicted.  Apparently the delay in launching an anti-crisis plan exacerbated the downturn.  The New York Times reports upon how Russia has been one of the countries the hardest hit by the recession.  Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has reaffirmed that in the next ten years, there will not be 'considerable changes in the structure of reserve currencies in the world'.  With debts of $5.4 billion, 'there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern', says steel and coal producer ...

The fund filings are out. If you're wondering, these are the funds I like to track, and sometimes follow by buying the same stocks:br /br /-George Soros (Soros Fund Management)br /-Seth Klarman (Baupost Group)br /-John Paulson (Paulson amp; CO.)br /-Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)br /-David Einhorn (Greenlight Capital)br /-Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management)br /-Steve Cohen (SAC Capital Advisors)br /br /Today, I'm going toa href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=a_RT.rEuHt4M" take a quick look at Soros' holdings/a.br /br /blockquoteSoros Fund Management LLC, the investor’s hedge-fund firm, sold 5 million U.S. shares of Petrobras, as the Brazilian company is known, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York-based firm’s remaining 32 million shares of the state-controlled oil company were valued at $963 million at the end of the quarter.br /br /The hedge fund also held 5.6 million shares of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Potash at the end of the quarter, compared ...

Today, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (ANR) announced that it would purchase, in an all stock deal, Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc. (FCL) whereby FCL shareholders would receive 1.084 shares of ANR for every share of FCL. Based off of its 5-day moving average of $32.73 per share, this represents a 37% premium over FCL's 5-day moving average.Alpha will also assume the +$500 MM of Foundation's net debt. The merged company will trade and operate under the Alpha name. The merger effectively gives the new company diversification -- the old ANR was exclusively focused in Central and Northern Appalachia (W. Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania), while the majority of Foundation Coal reserves and production come from the Powder River Basin (Wyoming). The reserve diversity will help the new ANR because the old ANR brings a higher margin product -- metallurgical coal -- whereas Foundation Coal produces almost all ...

Reuters examines the pressure on car factory workers as the industry suffers and pay is slashed; the possibility of mass discontent is a 'real risk'.  Vladimir Putin has reportedly announced that 'Canadian-Austrian company Magna asked Russian financial institutions and GAZ to make a proposal to Opel', whilst Gaz and Sberbank had previously denied any such involvement.  Bad assets are apparently preventing Russia from restarting lending, which may prolong the recession.  VEB has changed its loan rules and will require banks to lend the money they borrow to priority industries as the government battles to keep certain sectors afloat.  Mechel has finalized an agreement to buy the American coal producer Bluestone Coal for $436 million.  Vladimir Lisin's Novolipetsk Steel has recommenced production at its remaining idle blast furnace, following a major upgrade.  The Financial Times has an analysis ...

The IMF has predicted that Russia's economy will contract by up to 6% this year, but will grow by 0.5% in 2010.  Putin has drawn up new proposals for recapitalizing the banking sector and has said that a gradual slowing of inflation will allow the central bank to slash its refinancing rate.  The Prime Minister will also introduce measures to simplify taxes for small businesses and remove the requirement for them to have cash registers.  Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that the Reserve Fund will be 'practically exhausted' by 2010.  The Central Bank will increase bank lending by 10-12% this year.  Russia may cut its poultry quota by 2010 as domestic output increases.  Igor Zyuzin's steel and coal producer Mechel will buy up West Virginian assets from Bluestone Coal for $436 million in cash.  ...