RECORD EARNINGS AND PAYOUT HIKES!

They continue to roll in and the news is good. Sunoco Logistics (SXL) came out with record earnings last night along with a distribution hike. And this morning we have a 6 cent distribution increase for Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) along with record earnings. The company also issues guidance which is in line with estimates. Sometimes in this group it means something and sometimes it doesnt. Sunoco Logistics has a few trades higher in the pre market. Nothing yet on Alliance. Alliance Resource Holdings (AHGP) also comes in with a distribution hike. Conference calls for all coming this morning.

The ex distribution cycle starts today with Oneok (OKS) going ex dis. Usually mlps tend to sell off a bit once the payout comes out and it will be interesting to see if that happens and to what extent because while the dow has pulled back 600 points or almost 6% in the last week; MLPS are just 1% off their intra day high as measured by the index. So money continuees to flow into shares ahead of payouts. Pre markets are flat. Fed meeting and announcement later today and as mentioned yesterday we are at an important inflection point on the charts.

Cold weather for the northeast and mid atlantic and a Saturday snowstorm for parts of the south and mid atlantic...at least thats the way it looks right now.