What Detractors Don't Get About Coal (KOL)
Poor coal. The allegedly dirty energy source continues to draw the ire of certain commentators for one reason or another.
Whether its an infatuation with natural gas or the belief that the EPA will take meaningful action to eventually ban coal in the U.S., coal's detractors are numerous and vocal.
They also represent a risk to owning the Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL) until they become illuminated to the real story surrounding coal.
At the end of the day, the U.S. gets about half of its electricity from coal as does Germany. India gets more than two-thirds of its power from coal and Australia relies on coal for 76% of its electricity. China comes in at a whopping 81%.
Yes, one can point to Consol Energy's (NYSE: CNX) $3.48 billion purchase of Dominion Resources' (NYSE: D) Marcellus Shale assets as some kind of nail in the coffin of coal. Yet there is little to prove that fact.
Do not view coal, and KOL for that matter, as plays on the U.S. Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) said today it would increase metallurgical coal shipments to Asia and imported 16.1 million tons of coal January, nearly six times as much as it imported a year earlier. KOL has plenty of room to run despite what the naysayers believe.
