Patriot Coal Shares Popped: 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 coal stocks have climbed higher today, led by Patriot Coal (NYS: PCX) , which is up 10% as of this writing. Alpha Natural Resources (NYS: ANR) and Peabody Energy (NYS: BTU) are both up about 5% as well.

So what: The big news is... no news at all. There are rumors floating around that Warren Buffett may be looking into buying coal stocks, in part because they're bouncing around near 52-week lows. There's no solid evidence behind the rumor but investors sure got excited about a few websites reporting about it today.

Now what: There are all kinds of reasons Buffett wouldn't be interested in coal, first and foremost because he has exposure to coal with Burlington Northern. There are also low natural gas prices to worry about, which aren't going away any time soon. Finally, Buffett knows that the energy industry is trending away from coal, so why would he be buying a money losing company in the industry?

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

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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