GameStop Corp. (GME), Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (CLF), Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU): Today’s Three Best Stocks

Global miners also had a particularly strong day, with iron ore miner Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF) and coal miner Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) rising by 5.8% and 6.2%, respectively. For Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF) — and more than likely Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) as well — the move seems to correlate to the Flash HSBC Purchasing Managers Index in China, which came in with a reading of 50.1, a four-month high and a nice rebound from the lowest level in 11 months that it hit in July. Any reading above 50 signals expansion, and, if anything, this reading for August would suggest that China’s manufacturing sector is stabilizing. That’s great news for Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF), which is counting on iron ore demand to spur its bottom line and help stabilize iron ore prices.

For Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), in addition to this positive China PMI data, it also dealt with a potentially negative appellate court ruling that it would indeed be liable for the pensions of some 3,100 Patriot Coal retired workers. Under normal circumstances I’d consider this bad news, but the court ruling didn’t exactly stipulate how much Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) would be liable for, opening the door for a potentially small sum.

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 owns shares of GameStop.

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