A fossil fuel that has suffered in performance this year is Coal, and two ETFs that invest in companies that are involved in the Coal industry that have been punished accordingly are Market Vectors Coal (NYSEArca: KOL) and PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio (NasdaqGM: PKOL), down 28.90% and 23.29% respectively.
Since these two funds debuted in 2008, the picture has not been pretty for equities that are involved in coal mining and exploration unfortunately, driving these ETFs down 37.18% since inception in the case of KOL and down 29.37% for PKOL during the same time frame.
These funds have spent basically all of 2012 trading well below their 200 day moving averages and despite a few small rallies here and there, have mostly been registering lower lows.
PKOL has a heavy weighting to Asia, with 44% of the portfolio residing there, with the rest of the weightings spread across the U.S. (30%), Canada (11.86%), Australia (10.60%), among other smaller allocations.
Top holdings in PKOL are currently China Shenhua Energy Company (8.66%), CNX (8.63%), BTU (8.54%), CCJ (8.28%), and Banpu Public Company Limited (6.22%). On the other hand, KOL, has a heavier weighting to the U.S. thank PKOL (41.78% of the portfolio), with 42.91% of its exposure being devoted to Asia. Currently, top holdings in KOL are CNX (8.67%), BTU (8.49%), China Shenhua Energy Company (8.44%), China Coal Energy Company (8.01%), and JOY (7.45%).
Going into the end of the year and with most investors concentrating on the presidential race, it makes sense for those interested and involved with investing in Coal related companies to pay attention to the agendas of the candidates as they concern fossil fuels in general, as the election outcome will no doubt have some sway one way or the other in terms of the paths that these equities may follow in the future.
PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio
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