Mad About Options: Shutting Down the Consol: The Mad About Options crew reviews Jim Cramer's recent bearish comments about Consol Energy and offers options strategies for traders and investors.
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At 27, Consol's stock is off about 60% from a year ago -- in line with the industry's decline. But some analysts think the stock could triple in an economic recovery.

Gotta own some coal.

From a recent Mad Money show:"It's not clear whether this one is Obama resistant or not; it's got a lot of coal. I'm a seller."

From a recent Mad Money show:"It's not clear whether this one is Obama resistant or not; it's got a lot of coal. I'm a seller."

growth

Strong Buy - Price 29.39 on Dec. 16
by Raymond James

Target: 68.50. Softer 2009 fundamentals will likely lead to lower volumes for Consol [the largest U.S. producer of high-energy producing, or high-BTU, bituminous coal.] After channel checks, we've trimmed fourth-quarter 2008 earnings per share to 50 cents from 73 cents, 2009 to $5 from $6.80, and 2010 to $5.20 from $5.35...We've heard that...certain metallurgical-coal contracts [may be] canceled -- or held off for delivery or requests for price adjustments in light of steel-industry [conditions]...Consol's high-quality Buchanan [Virginia] coal should see stronger prices relative to some of the lesser-quality met-coals, [and] thermal-coal contracts with utilities should hold up well. Market cap: $5.5 billion.

From a recent Mad Money show:"These stocks act like they're going bankrupt, but they're not going bankrupt. I don't support shorting these stocks down here, they're just too low."

From a recent Mad Money show:"These stocks act like they're going bankrupt, but they're not going bankrupt. I don't support shorting these stocks down here, they're just too low."

From a recent Mad Money show: "This stock is so knocked down its incredible. If you think McCain is going to win, I'd buy some, but otherwise, I'd wait this one out."