Master Limited Partnerships Midstream Update
News & Investment Guide to Pipeline & Midstream MLPs or PTPs
Stats for APL BPL BWP CPNO EEP EPD ETP HEP HLND KMP MMP MWE OKS PAA RGNC SXL TCLP TLP TPP VLI WPZ XTEX
Shippers: KSP MMLP TGP USS, CEF's: FEN, FMO, KYE, KYN, TYG & TYY and for GP's AHD, BGH, EPE, ETE, MGG, VEH & XTXI

MessageBoard Navigator

Site Index

Prior Updates
Nov   Oct
Sept   Aug   July
Jun   May   Aprl
Mar   Feb   Jan

2005 Updates
Dec   Nov   Oct
Sept   Aug   July
Jun   May   Aprl
Mar   Feb   Jan

2004 Updates
Dec   Nov   Oct
Sept   Aug   July
Jun   May   Intro

MLP & Energy News
Oil Online
Petro News
Yahoo News

Blogs & Groups
Google Group
MLP Blog
Util/MLP Blog

MLP Intro
Wachovia Primer
R James Primer Alerian Primer Merrill Lynch Morgan Stanley

Market Stats
MLPs at Yahoo
MLPs at CNN
MLPs at Excite
MarketWatch
MLPs at MSN
MLPs at WSJ

Factoids
Dec   Nov   Oct
Sept   Aug   July
Jun   May   Aprl
Mar   Feb   Jan

REIT Updates
 Nov Off/Ind
 Nov Retail
 Nov Triple's
 Nov Apt/Hosp

Bank Updates
Dec   Nov   Oct  
Sept   Aug   July
Jun   May   Aprl
Mar   Feb   Jan

BDC Updates
Dec   Nov  

  
December 2006

     There have been some noteworthy additions to the resource links in the left hand column of this page. Two more MLP primers have been added - one from Merrill Lynch and one from Morgan Stanley - both at the naptp.org site.

     At the bottom of the resource list are links to my first two BDC [Business Development Company] Updates. I am still working on the "Intro to BDCs" in the November update, so here is my invitation to you to give me feedback and corrections on that effort.

     Additionaly, I seek reader input on the selection of new MLPs to include in the 2007 update. At the moment, those will be CLMT [if I can find DCFs], DPM, EROC, GEL and UCLP. Duncan Energy Partners and Atlas Energy Resources [ATN] are also potential additions. I am thinking about dropping all the 'shippers'.

     And one last change, the year-end yardsticks and strategic short cuts update has already been added - it is javascripted to change daily with each price update. It takes 84 pages [or computer 'screens'] of code to produce eleven computer screens worth of output - so it takes a while to find any bugs or outdated code - so I am starting early. Feedback on that effort is also welcomed.


     The spreadsheet below uses month ending data. The 'monthly price change' column is for unit price changes, while the 'year to date' stats is for total return [distributions plus unit price gains]. This explains the jumps in year to date gains in the distribution heavy months of February, May, August and November without similar gains in those month's unit prices. CEF numbers are for MLP and MLP-hybrid Closed-End Funds. The 'Ten Year Yield' numbers are for the US Treasury.
      Tracking the spread of the average MLP's yield to the Treasury [which I have done since January of 2005] has been a useful tool for timing of MLP purchases - according to this metric, buy MLPs when the spread is high. I have tracked the CEF spread since April 2006, and it is too early to tell if this number is meaningful. A new addition to this data is the CEF Price/NAV ratio, which is used in academia to measure investor sentiment. According to theory, buy MLPs when the price is at the largest discount to NAV.


Ten YearSectorTen YearCEF AvCEFCEFMLP's MonthlyYear-to-Date
MonthYieldYieldSpreadYieldSpreadPr/NAVPrice ChangeTotal Return

Nov4.46%6.44%1986.02%42100.69+2.15%+27.21%
Oct4.60%6.58%1986.30%2898.73+4.59%+22.53%
Sept4.64%6.70%2066.39%3195.82-0.70%+17.18%
Aug4.73%6.65%1926.42%2396.69+2.24%+18.08%
July5.00%6.61%1616.45%1696.78+3.09%+13.41%
June5.15%6.82%1676.77%0597.59-0.80%+10.14%
May5.12%6.76%1646.69%07-0.35%+11.02%
April5.07%6.68%1616.63%05+0.04%+ 9.79%
March4.85%6.56%171x.xx%+2.13%+ 8.41%
Feb4.55%6.68%213x.xx%+0.04%+ 6.22%
Jan4.50%6.56%206x.xx%+4.44%+ 4.44%
Dec 054.40%6.91%252


MLP Midstream 12-29-06