Cheap shots at M Night Shyamalan aside, a rating by Ramond James analyst James Rollyson on James River Coal could spark a bit of a revival in the US.

Rollyson’s view is that a rising gas price as winter approaches may be a boon for coal stocks and James River in particular.

According to an Associated Press report, he postulates that slower gas supply growth may lead to a rise in gas prices and help coal.

The gas price certainly has been arising of late.

Admittedly though, that is from a low base.

It is easy to joke that the carnage from the US shale gale-driven gas glut and draconian anti-coal environmental policies means anyone looking into the US coal market is really just seeing dead people. (Okay, last M Night Shyamalan gag.)

Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama in last month’s presidential poll was seen by many as the beginning of some extremely tough times ahead for coal miners.

However, James River Coal was one of the US stocks to recover on Monday, rising 9% to close the day at $2.72.

It also rose 9c on Friday to close the week at $2.49.

Peabody, Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Walter Energy, Consol Energy and Oxford Resource Partners also went on a bit of a Friday run.

What was interesting was that James River bucked the trend on Monday when many other coal players faltered.

Rollyson has raised his rating of James River to Outperform from Market Perform and set a $3 price target on its stock.

However, its price has been almost cut in half since election day and has dropped 64% this year.