James River Coal Up 1,436% Since August

Back in August of last year, things didn't look good for James River Coal Company (JRCC).  After peaking slightly above $50 in 2005, the stock was all the way down to $3.86.  From its August lows to yesterday's close, however, the stock is up a whopping 1,436%.  And this comes from a company who has had 8 straight quarters of negative earnings. 

Have a good look at the chart below, because it doesn't happen too often.

click to enlarge

Comments

[fatcat]

Simply amazing!In any other market I'd be short this baby in a minute,but now I,d get my ass handed to me,again..

[pachanguero]

ICO is better value

[Mark Anthony]

I did make the correct call on JRCC and loaded it up massively at $4 a share. But now I think it is time to move on:

seekingalpha.com/artic...

[Marol]

Bespoke and all:

WHY???

I own (up 300%)? Should I sell the moment it drops at all (via stop-losses -- hard because of the general swings and the coal-sector swimgs)? Or put in staged stops?

Should I buy more?

Should I keep taking profit?

So many choices, so few right . . .

[tirereviews]

Marol,

You seem to be in a drunken Kool-Aid frame of mind. JRCC has been jumped on by momo traders, driven by the rapid rise in CAPP spot prices. They may be able to make a profit, but they still have plenty of debt and operational difficulties. They were almost left for dead just six months ago. Pirate Capital, a hedge fund that owned quite a large stake, sold off their holdings when the stock was in the single digits (oh, the pain of whoever made that decision at the fund.. wow!).

Personally I would place some stops, even that may not help you come the next earnings release, unless you placed a stop market order.

[waterboy]

JRCC price to book value is 14x. ICO book value is 3.8x. Roll your gains in JRCC into ICO.