I have become bullish on coal lately.  Hence my recent purchase of James River Coal Company (JRCC).  And apparently I’m not the only one.  Billionaire Wilbur Ross also loves the stuff:

On to coal. In October, Ross agreed to sell ISG to London steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal for $4.5 billion, half in stock and half cash; Ross personally pocketed $300 million. Though he and his partners have a $2.5 billion stake in Mittal's steel empire, Ross has given up any control he had. So he's turned his attention to replicating his success in coal and textiles. International Coal Group was created through the purchase of ailing coal companies, the biggest of which is Ashland, Ky.-based Horizon Natural Resources. Despite industry criticism that he paid too much for his coal assets, Ross seems to love the stuff and is quick to point out that the thermal energy of coal in the United States exceeds that of the world's oil. The fact that coal is in places like West Virginia and Tennessee instead of Nigeria or Iraq also delights him. "We think reliability of supply is a very important factor," he says.

That was taken from an article titled “The commodity king” written last year about Mr. Ross.  More information on Mr. Ross, and his thoughts on coal, can be found on the International Coal Group website.

I will be adding more to my JRCC position next week and will hopefully have some time to do a proper write-up here on StokBlogs.

-theo