- Outlook for coal bleak
- Brokers suggests stock preferences
- Goldman Sachs updates commodity price forecasts
- Base metal preferences discussed

By Eva Brocklehurst

A high Australian dollar, a drop in prices, delays in government approvals, a lack of funding options - it's not a good look for coal, according to Credit Suisse. The broker has re-visited its valuations of the Australian coal sector and cut its outlook for both metallurgical and thermal coal, although the latter's revisions are more minor. Credit Suisse describes metallurgical coal's short-term fundamentals as 'torrid' and sees only a modest recovery in prices for this coal - perhaps back towards USD190/t by 2015.