Last September, I said the new PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio(PKOL) was well-constructed but poorly timed in light of the bear market. Now, it might be a good time to revisit this exchange traded fund.
Coal stocks are generally more volatile than large oil companies. Adding more potential volatility to a portfolio during a bear market is probably a bad idea. Instead, investors should boost volatility after a big decline or as stocks rise. The market might be at that point now.
In that first article, I compared the PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio to the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund(XLE), noting that the PowerShares fund would decline more in a down market. That trend played out, but the coal fund has since rebounded, soaring 69% this year as the SPDR fund rose 1.7%. ...
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| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,779.17 | 1,165.82 | 2,391.28 | 36.72 |
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