Patriot Coal Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Patriot Coal (NYS: PCX) fell 12% today amid the overall market decline.

So what: Not only is the overall market down substantially today, but coal miners are down significantly as economic concerns worry investors. There's also been a slight decrease in European coal prices and a massive outflow of 10.5% of shares from the Global Coal Portfolio ETF over the past week.

Now what: Put all of that together and Patriot Coal is sliding along with coal giants Peabody Energy (NYS: BTU) and Arch Coal (NYS: ACI) . All three are near 52-week lows and have been crushed over the past few weeks as fears of an economic slowdown spread through the market. I would be leery about jumping into coal stocks here because a slow global economy and a rising preference for alternatives to coal power mean rough roads ahead for these companies.

Interested in more info on Patriot Coal? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings, or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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