Today’s 3 Best Stocks: Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK), Noble Corporation (NE), CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX)

Finally, continuing our theme of energy outperformance, CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) chugged higher by 3.9%, despite dealing with a mine fire this week. Helping send the share price higher was a mixture of a BMO Capital upgrade to “outperform” from “market perform” on Tuesday, and rising natural gas prices today. As natural gas prices rise, coal becomes a much more lucrative and cost-effective electricity-generating option. If utilities slow their switch from coal to natural gas, companies like CONSOL are bound to see coal prices stabilize and demand pick up.

The article Today’s 3 Best Stocks originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool has the following options: Long Jan 2014 $20 Calls on Chesapeake Energy, Long Jan 2014 $30 Calls on Chesapeake Energy, and Short Jan 2014 $15 Puts on Chesapeake Energy.

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