Puts Purchased on James River Coal Company (JRCC)

Shares of James River Coal Company

are moving higher this morning by 1.33%, trading at $16.76. The stock has been trading largely sideways over the past six months, hovering around the $17.00 level, as well as the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Note that the averages are minutely down=trending. Options traders are coming after puts today. A short while ago the June 2011 $12.50 put was purchased 1,000 times, on the offer, on no prior open interest. This signals new positioning on the name. Overall put volume is now running at 3.57x the daily average, with 95% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. James River Coal Company mines, processes and sells bituminous, steam- and industrial-grade coal through six operating subsidiaries (mining complexes) located throughout eastern Kentucky and in southern Indiana. As of December 31, 2009, the company's six mining complexes included 14 underground mines, 10 surface mines and 10 preparation plants, five of which have integrated rail loadout facilities and three of which use a common loadout facility at a separate location.