Last week, the fourth largest U.S. coal producer, CONSOL Energy (CNX), agreed to pay $3.48 billion for the Appalachian natural gas properties of Dominion Resources (D). It was a major move to diversify its energy platform, picking up 1.46 million oil and gas acres and 9,000 producing wells. In all, CONSOL is expected to boost its natural reserves to about 3 trillion cubic feet and the potential reserve base will be about 41 trillion cubic feet.

However, the deal is not cheap and will require some financial maneuverings. For example, Monday CONSOL agreed to purchase its remaining 17% stake in CNX Gas (CXG) for $965 million.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman said International Paper (NYSE: IP) is its top pick in the group citing leverage to early cycle containerboard. The firm upgraded shares to Conviction Buy from Buy and has a $26 target on the stock.
• Morgan Keegan upgraded Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuation and better-than-expected Q2 results.
• William Blair upgraded Harbin Electric (NASDAQ: HRBN) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the Chinese economy is likely to accelerate and the company's balance sheet is strengthened following the retirement of debt.
• Allstate (NYSE: ALL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Commercial Vehicle Group (NASDAQ: CVGI) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan.

Just over a year ago, I blogged that CNX Gas (NYSE: CXG), a natural gas exploration, development and production company that liberates the methane in coal beds and develops it into natural gas, was a stock pick with a strong future.

The release of methane from coal mines began as a safety measure back in the early 1980s. However, mining companies soon realized that money could be made from this coalbed methane. CNX Gas is one of the companies to tap this gas resource. It has enormous coalbed methane reserves, primarily in Appalachia , and the reserve life of its proved reserves is nearly 22 years.

At the time of my earlier blog, CNX Gas had recently split off from CONSOL Energy, a coal-mining company (which still owns over 80% of CNX's stock), and was going like gangbusters. In 2005, it saw 50% growth over 2004, and the first quarter of 2006 showed a 40% growth over the first quarter of 2005. CNX's pre-tax and net profit margins were twice as high as the industry average.

At the time, it was trading in the low $20s, and I recommended it was a good buy. Today, it is trading just over $30 and still presents a good buy, in my opinion. I'm not alone. A Bank of Montreal report issued this week notes that CNX is focused on evaluating 93% of its unevaluated reserves, and once the Rockies Express pipeline comes online, it will likely be the gas producer with the lowest prices in the country. It is aiming for 15% production growth in 2008, and analysts are confident that CNX is on track. So am I.

Type of stock: A natural gas exploration, development and production company that also converts coalbed methane to natural gas, with extensive proven (and unproven) reserves and a continuing record of extraordinary growth.

Price target: The Bank of Montreal report puts the target price at $37. Currently trading nearly at $31, I could see CXG hitting $40 in a year.