In Today’s Masters in Trading: Live Coal isn’t making a comeback because of one headline. It’s coming back because of a stack. And when policy stacks, markets lag – and entire sectors reprice. On Friday, February 20th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to formally loosen Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for coal plants at an event in Louisville. Now, this isn’t an isolated move. It’s the fifth major pro-coal policy action in the past nine months — and together they form a cumulative “policy stack” the market still hasn’t fully priced. Here are the other big policy moves taking shape: - 16+ Department of Energy (DOE) emergency orders keeping 2+ GW (gigawatts) of coal capacity online
- The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” met coal tax credit
- Repeal of the Biden-era carbon rule
- A Pentagon directive prioritizing coal procurement
Individually, each action looks incremental. Collectively, they represent a structural reset of the current supply/demand dynamic for coal. And here’s where it gets interesting. Our Discord community spotted this trade early. On February 6 — a full 12 days before Reuters ran the EPA story — a member flagged $7.7 million in Unusual Options Activity (UOA) in Peabody Energy (BTU). Specifically, 20,001 September $45 calls. 
That’s not retail noise. That’s positioning. And there are more coal players like BTU quieting catching massive volume in the options market as I write to you. For us, it’s about knowing where exactly to look for exposure right now. And I’ll be clear with you – it isn’t in utilities. Because most regulated utilities already have Integrated Resource Plans assuming coal retirements. That means operators are forced to keep plants online, which raises operating and maintenance costs. That hands us more margin pressure than we’re comfortable with. So what’s the best way to play coal’s rally? The torque is upstream — in the miners. Smart traders could position ahead of Friday’s Louisville announcement. They could even trade Monday’s reaction using defined-risk options structures. The key risk? Legal challenges. Environmental groups could seek a judicial stay, which would create lots of headline volatility. But zoom out. The front-end narrative isn’t “coal comeback.” This story is all about the realities of supplying an overloaded power grid. Coal is still an essential asset. And for investors, it’s a profitable trade theme for 2026. Because when you see five stacked actions in nine months — plus unusual options activity before the news cycle — that’s not random. That’s capital moving early. So join me for today’s episode of Masters in Trading LIVE at 11AM EST, where I’ll break down the institutional signals and key trade setups emerging in coal stocks right now. And if you’re interested in knowing the framework rich_fon_ros learned to spot stocks like BTU early… Why not check out The Masters in Trading Options Challenge? The Challenge is where we take everything you’ve learned in my daily LIVEs — fixed risk, thesis-driven exits, laddered entries, defined-duration trades, and emotional discipline — and put it into practice in a structured, step-by-step environment. For seven days, I walk you through the foundations of real options trading – just the way I learned over 28+ years trading options. You’ll learn exactly how I think, exactly how I build trades, and exactly how I manage both the winners and the losers. Just click here to check out what the Masters in Trading Options Challenge has in store for you. Are you a Challenge member? Make sure to join my next LIVE Q&A session today at 2PM EST. Just look for the link to join in Discord or in your inbox. 
| Recommended Link | | | | I insisted on teaching my youngest daughter one quick thing before she set off on her own after college. What I imparted to Crystal, over the course of dinner, was the basics of my investing strategy — a strategy so straightforward to learn, I called it the “ABC’s.” And in the months that followed… After Crystal moved to New York and spent her days trying to break into the film industry… She doubled the market. That’s right: my Gen-Z, art-student daughter, ran laps around the S&P 500. The year after, she did it again. Click here to discover the system my daughter used to double the S&P 500 last year! |  | |
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