Coal stocks are looking increasingly attractive as the price of natural gas rises, commodities trader Dennis Gartman said Friday on CNBC.
"I think we have to turn to the coal market given the fact that heretofore we've seen an awful lot of switching out of coal into nat gas when nat gas was down at $2.50 per million British thermal units, " he said on "Fast Money."
"I think you have to look bullishly at the coal stocks, " he added. "Take a look at KOL , the coal ETF."
Gartman, who is also editor of the widely followed Gartman Letter, said it would be "tough to get natural gas above $4.50 or $5 given the amount of nat gas that's out there unless we get an extraordinarily cold winter.
"If nat gas holds and moves higher, that switching is over, " he said. "I think you're going to start to see coal prices move rather nicely, slowly, gently higher. This is not fast money. This is warm money."
Coal plays Alpha Natural Resources , Peabody Energy and Consol Energy were higher this week.
Pete Najarian of OptionMonster.com posed a question for investors: "Where does nat gas to get you shaken out of the coal trade?"
He added, "I think it is around that $3 level."
Stephen Weiss of Short Hills Capital showed skepticism.
"A lot of the switching to nat gas has been driven by environmental regulations where they had to switch because coal can't become clean enough, " he said. "I'd be careful about that case. It's kind of specious."
Trader disclosure: On Oct. 12, 2012, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Josh Brown is long WMT; Josh Brown is long DEM; Josh Brown is long HD; Josh Brown is long TGT; Josh Brown is long WFC; Pete Najarian is long AAPL; Pete Najarian is long C; Pete Najarian is long JPM CALLS; Pete Najarian is long INTC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long SBUX; Pete Najarian is long FB; Pete Najarian is long MSFT; Pete Najarian is long WFC Calls; Stephen Weiss is long QCOM; Stephen Weiss is long BAC; Stephen Weiss is long AIG; Stephen Weiss is short RIO ; Stephen Weiss is short AKS; Stephen Weiss is short AAPL PUTS; Joe Terranova is long VRTS; Joe Terranova is long WFM; Joe Terranova is long SBUX; Joe Terranova is long NFLX; Joe Terranova is long SWN; Joe Terranova is long TRV; Joe Terranova is long VZ; Joe Terranova is long XOM; Joe Terranova is long CVX; Joe Terranova is long COP; Joe Terranova is long SU; Joe Terranova is long CSTR; Joe Terranova is long CHKP; Joe Terranova is long NXPI; Joe Terranova is long GLW; Joe Terranova is long EMC; Joe Terranova is long SHORT DE. MINI-SP FUTURES.
______________________________________________________
Got something to to say? Email fastmoney-web@cnbc.com and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap. If you'd prefer to make a comment, but not have it published online, email fastmoney@cnbc.com.