In a tough tape on Friday Coal related stocks performed above average and look to continue to run with profitable expectations growing. Massey Energy (MEE), Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) and Arch Coal (ACI) all have rising earnings expectations and are at 52 week highs. Just this past Monday, a broker, David Khani from FBR Capital Markets raised his price guidance for coal for next couple of years.

Friday’s action confirmed the S&P correction which was signaled two days prior and the DOW Industrials sell signal that occurred over a week ago. And the weak sector of the economy is the same sector that began a correction last year, the Financials.

Clearing its previous high for the year, Petrohawk Energy ran up 11.35% today to close at $34.82. This Houston based developer, producer, and distributor of oil and natural gas jumped on an upgrade by Lehman Brothers.

With the market struggling, the DOW in a new correction, and financials showing additional weakness, I think you can short Washington Mutual for a short term gain.

On a day that saw Regional Airlines decline as an industry 1.48%, several carriers saw brand new 52 week lows.

On a day when the European Steel Industry Group Asked the European Union to block a merger between BHP and Rio Tinto, investors created an unusually high amount of Call options volume on Arcelor Mittal (MT).

With the high price of oil and the weak domestic economy, GM does not look to improve its earnings potential quickly. Hitting a new 52 week low today, the company fell 1% on a pretty decent day for equities and a day that saw a reversal in oil from the current trend.

The next Bear Stearns? Lehman Brothers stock continued to fall Friday with a 6% move to the downside as investors worry about the solvency of the brokerage.

If you’re dying to be long and are looking for a speculative play for your portfolio, China Precision Steel had a great day of trading on Friday and the options action was also encouraging.

In recent days the major three indexes, the Nasdaq Composite, the Dow Jones Industrials, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 all have giving hold signals.