James River Coal Falls 18% on Rating Cut

Shares of James River Coal

are seeing increased weakness during Tuesday's trading session after S&P lowered the company's debt rating to "CCC+" from "B-" with a negative outlook. From the report, S&P stated, "We expect U.S.-based James River Coal Co.'s revenues and EBITDA in 2012 and 2013 will likely be lower than our previous expectation because of a warmer-than-normal winter and ongoing natural gas substitution." S&P continued on to state that the "negative outlook" reflects current market conditions, which includes rapidly decline in demand for coal, and will hurt James River Coal's short-term operating performance. Currently, shares of James River Coal are trading down about 17 percent at $2.41 per share.