Was Insider Information Leaked about this Energy Company Buyout?

This story from Wall Street Cheat Sheet

Massey Energy (NYSE:MEE) has been rumored to be on the block for a few months, and today we have news that Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) seems close to finalizing of a bid of $7B or $68-$69 per share.  It appears based on the price action Friday, and volume explosion in the closing 15 minutes of the day this was not a secret to ‘smart money’.  What was it Gordon Gekko said?

The most valuable commodity I know of is information.

Indeed.  One would only hope the SEC could spend 3 minutes into looking into such matters of “information” that seem to always fall into the laps of certain “smart money” types.  Or of course it was just happenstance the stock surged in the last 2 hours Friday on a very down day for the market… on a volume spike no less.  Ahem.

Friday’s intraday action in Massey—-

(smart money at work…. please wear your hard hat)

All sorts of February calls were bought Friday as well (over 10% of open interest was bought Friday in most strike prices between $55 and $65) – congrats guys, you just made a killing.   Hopefully ZeroHedge does a posting on this, because it seems the only time the SEC investigates anything of this manner, it requires public embarrassment by ‘rogue’ blogs with huge amounts of traffic.  Otherwise it is just another day at the fair and balanced casino in NYC.

Via Bloomberg:

• Alpha Natural Resources the third-biggest U.S. coal producer, is close to an agreement to buy Massey Energy for about $7 billion, according to a person familiar with the situation.  The stock and cash offer values Massey, the largest Central Appalachian coal producer, at $68 to $69 a share, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. An agreement may be reached as early as today and announced on Jan. 31, this person said. The Wall Street Journal reported the deal earlierMassey shareholders will receive about 1.025 Alpha shares, plus $10 in cash for each share held, representing an almost 20 percent premium from Massey’s closing share price yesterday, according to the person. The boards of Alpha and Massey have been briefed on details of the deal, the person said.Massey is the nation’s fourth-largest coal producer by revenue. It operates 19 mining complexes in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. The Richmond, Va.-based company has struggled with two money-losing quarters since last spring’s deadly explosion at its Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia killed 29 men and prompted a regulatory crackdown that Massey blames for cutting production.

This is a guest post written by Trader Mark who runs the blog Fund My Mutual Fund.

Another great read: Is Potash Corp Cheap After Canada Blocks BHP’s Bid?>>

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