What happened
Shares of uranium mining company Energy Fuels (UUUU -3.39%) crashed 8.4% through 3:15 p.m. ET Friday.
There wasn't any "new" news to explain Energy Fuels' drop today -- and that may be the problem.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
By now you know this story: As President Biden pushes his "Build Back Better" agenda through Congress, including $555 billion in funding that will largely go to tax breaks for "low-emissions energy sources" -- such as nuclear power -- demand for nuclear fuel is expected to surge.
Prices for nuclear fuel certainly have been surging, and multiple times seemed to be approaching the "$60-a-pound uranium" target that is seen as a likely high-water mark for the cost of the fuel. Problem is, each time uranium prices have spiked over the past couple months, they've peaked and fallen back -- and each time they've spiked again, the new "high" price has been lower than the previous high.
According to TradingEconomics.com data, uranium prices peaked near $51 a pound in mid-September before retracing lower. They ran up again in mid-October, but only to about $49 a pound. The latest peak occurred about four days ago, at roughly $48 per pound -- and prices have been stuck there ever since.
Now what
If recent history is any guide, the next step should be in a downwards direction. And if uranium prices do go down, it's probably a safe bet that the prices of uranium stocks like Energy Fuels will be going down as well. In fact, as we're seeing today, even just a plateauing in uranium prices seems to be having a disheartening effect upon uranium stock investors, as they bail out of Energy Fuels shares today.
Lather, rinse, and repeat. This is just the way things go when you're investing in cyclical stocks.
