Massey Energy Co. (MEE) − the largest coal company in Central Appalachia, Virginia – announced third-quarter earnings of 19 cents per share, which was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, lower coal shipments and prices drove a 69% slump in earnings year over year.   Revenues in the quarter plunged 6% year over year to $6.4 billion, reflecting a 15% drop in sales volumes and a 4% decline in prices. Metallurgical coal accounted for 22% of total shipments, down from 24% in third-quarter 2008. According to company estimates, a fire that destroyed a southern West Virginia preparation plant in August curtailed production by 300,000 tons during the quarter.   Massey and its peers including Arch Coal Inc. (ACI), CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) were impacted by the weak coal demand. Demand for coal decreased with lower electric power generation

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 22, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Autoliv (ALV), Ford (F), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s AnalystBlog:

Autoliv Returns to Profitability

Autoliv (ALV) has shown a profit of $33.7 million or 37 cents per share in the third quarter of the year, after reporting losses for the preceding three quarters. The Sweden-based supplier of automotive safety systems has also beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 24 cents per

...

Coal miner Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) reported third-quarter earnings of 49 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus estimate of 22 cents. However, the quarterly results were down 70.4% from the year ago earnings of $1.35 per share.

Peabody’s revenues declined to $1.67 billion in the quarter from $1.89 billion a year ago. The company’s U.S. revenues per ton increased 11% over last year due to higher realized prices. Realized revenues for Australia averaged $82 per ton - $125 per ton for metallurgical coal and $72 per ton for thermal coal - up 33% from the second quarter of 2009.

The company’s total sales volumes were 63.5 million tons, down from 65.6 million tons a year ago. U.S. sales reflected planned Powder River Basin (PRB) reductions. But Australian sales of 6.5 million tons were 30% above the second quarter and Australian metallurgical coal exports were 2.7 million tons, nearly triple the pace of

...

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. ...

U.S. stocks rose to their highest levels since November as upbeat reports on construction and strong bank profits spurred hopes that the global economy is gaining strength.  Investors found new reason to put money into stocks, pushing all major averages up at least 1%.  The broader S&P 500 breached the 1,000 level for the first time since November 5.  Helping sentiments further was Chinese manufacturing data that jumped to its highest level in a year.   

Premarket futures suggest stocks are likely to fall as profit taking emerges.  Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 46 to 9,202. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are down 6 points to 994, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are down 10 points to 1,616.

On Monday, the DJIA rose 115 points, or 1.3%, to close at a nine-month high of 9286.  The index is up 42% from its twelve-year lows hit on March

...

The answer lies in the rise in oil prices. Crude prices have risen above $64/barrel, US Oil Fund ETF (NYSE:USO) is up more than 5%, and solar stocks are following along for the ride. The sentiment seems to be that demand for oil will translate into demand for energy from all sources. Even coal miner Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTU) has risen more than 7% in the past week. Even natural gas prices have risen above $4/thousand cubic feet on the futures market.

Rising energy prices may boost the stock market, but it is nearly equally certain that those same rising prices will kill a recovery in consumer spending if the prices rise too much. If consumers have to pay more for gasoline, they’ll spend less on everything else, including solar panels. Of course the US government could temporarily put some air

…

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

ABB Ltd (ABB) Actuant Corp (ATU) Allegheny Energy Inc (AYE) Benchmark Electronics Inc (BHE) Blyth Inc (BTH) Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc (BBW) Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF) Cleco Corp (CNL) CONMED Corp (CNMD) Dassault Systemes SA (DASTY) Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc (BAGL) Electronics For Imaging Inc (EFII) EMS Technologies Inc (ELMG) EnerSys (ENS) Eni SpA (E) Enstar Group Ltd (ESGR) Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD) FNB United Corp (FNBN) Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (FDP) The Hain Celestial Group Inc (HAIN) Harleysville Group Inc (HGIC) Hartford Financial Services (HIG) Haverty Furniture Companies Inc (HVT) Heritage Financial Corp (HFWA) I-Flow Corp (IFLO) Independent Bank Corp (IBCP) Investment Technology Group (ITG) ...

Highlights include Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI), CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU). One way to keep track of economic activity is to look at just how much stuff is moving around. In this case, the data from Railfax shown below is not very reassuring. Total rail traffic last week was down 24.4% from a week ago, and the decline is very broad-based across all of the major types of goods carried on the rails. The best way to look at the data is to compare the top line of each grouping (the "Vs. 2008" line). Note that the total traffic quarter to date is down 22.5% from a year ago, which is substantially worse than the 18.1% decline year to date. ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 7, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research picks UDR, Inc. (UDR) as Bull of the Day and Hartford Financial Services (HIG) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Boston Scientific Inc.'s (BSX) and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

UDR, Inc. (UDR) is an apartment real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates, acquires, develops and renovates middle-market apartment communities. Although it has assets across the country, UDR's exposure is mostly in the Western and Mid-Atlantic U.S.

2009 will be a more difficult year for multi-family REITs; the lack of job growth will force landlords to cut rents and offer more concessions. In a recessionary environment, we

...

President-elect Barack Obama has made no bones about wanting to jump-start the renewable energy markets – pledging $150 billion for the development of biofuels, solar and wind power, other alternative energy sources during his first term.

But what might the new administration mean for more traditional – and more reliable –energy sources?

Oil is always the first energy source to spring to mind. But it’s hardly a solo act – coal and nuclear make up the other two-thirds of the top fuel trio. Coal delivers 50% of U.S. electricity needs, and nuclear power brings another 20% to the table.

The cold truth is that demand for energy of all types – and especially electricity – is going to keep advancing, domestically and worldwide. And developing alternatives to coal and nuclear will take time. For instance, tying wind and solar into the existing power grid will be enormously expensive and is likely

...