PREOPEN SOFTNESS ON STOCKS

PENN VIRGINIA GP GETS A DOWNGRADE

Very weak S&P futures setting the tone this morning on the financial markets so i guess it means a down open for MLPS although i've been fooled by this before. It apparently started in Asia last night and spread to Europe this morning. So with that backdrop we have soft crude oil and stronger natural gas. Gasoline is flat. One issue that will be down at the open anyway is Penn Virginia Group (PVG) which was cut to hold from buy at Wachovia. Stifel Nicholas starts it at hold along with Penn Virginia Resources (PVR). Also this morning Natural Resource Partners (NRP) starts trading with a 2-1 stock split.

Not much else is happening this morning. No clues on the impact of Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP) on its stock in the premarket. Scroll down to last nights final post for news after the close on several issues. Nice distribution increase from Copano as they up 2.5 cents. So far no indication of the distribution increases being already priced into MLP prices.

Two observations. On the discussion group of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) "chart" (a wise mlp sage from upstate NY) points out that a major repricing of MLPS has been underway. The way in which MLPS have been viewed by the market as a bond proxy seems to be changing to the view that these are companies that sell products and make money. I agree with this. Also I have also noticed an increase in my own page views and when I check the sources for the increase I am seeing many more google searches on MLPS than i did just 6 months ago. Mean MLP yields continue to drop and are sitting under 6%. This does not include any distribution increases coming this quarter. So there is definitely more going on here than just an MLP rally as the stock market makes new highs.