MLPS have cut their losses from down over 5 to down a little over 3. The dow is off the lows as well. Considering how it looked after 10am its not a half bad comeback but the dow is now just above 9900.

Alliance Resource (ARLP) and Plains All American (PAA) are down a little over a point and lead the list of losers. Just a few mlps flat or up by a few pennies.

No surprises as its a crappy open. Dow down nearly 200 at the lows. MLPS down over 4 on the mlp index.

ITS A 2 HANDLE!

The ten year yield this morning is back under 3% for the first time since we came out of the crisis in 2008. The 2 year yield is at a record low of 0.62%. This is not a good sign in my view about the overall economy. It is sending a signal and its a deflationary spiral that could get out of control if we're not careful. Okay maybe im being a little extreme here but face it folks. Look at stock prices overall, commodities prices overall, are going down....the dollar is strengthening. Or maybe this is the end of quarter pile on that i believe began late last week and has perhaps another day or 2 to go. Either way this morning there is pressure that is coming from Europe sending down futures down over 100 and under 10k pre open. MLPS are part of the pile on and continue to strongly outperform the overall market. At some point this may get undone and in a big hurry.

Look at the chart above and notice that the yield on the 10 year has dropped 20% in the last 3 monts (from 4 to 3%) and this has come with a drop in stock prices and a gain in mlp prices. Money continues to move toward the attractive yield and tax advantages that mlps offer.


That move has accellerated since last Thursday and its from this that i lay my argument that the end of quarter is playing big in here and that this spread wont last for ever. Either markets will turn and rally come the new quarter or mlps will unwind this gain to some degree. Place your bets people.

Nothing on the corporate side this morning that will drive individual mlps and nothing on the upgrade downgrade list. It will be interesting to see what happens today after the hard down open if mlps will turn and move higher and continue the outperformance. 2.98 is the latest print on the 10 year.

Got this link emailed to me yesterday about taxes and mlps. Its an interesting read. Im not sure what to make of it really. Yes MLPS have a tax advanatge but my response to all of this is that there is nothing stopping anyone from investing in these companies and participating in the same tax advantage. DUH!

Up another 3.30 and over 312 as the 10 year yield drops to 3.039%. The end of quarter pile in continues. This is beginning to look and feel a little ominious to me. The Dow is a couple of a hundred points above its trading low and the mlp index is but 3% below its recent high. I know i should enjoy the ride but i can't help but wonder that this is all going to get unwound in a hurry later in the week. Hope im wrong.

The end of quarter pile on continues. Bonds approaching a 3% yield, gold stocks higher, and mlps higher with the index up 1 and approaching 310. Can't help but feel a lot of this gets undone Thursday but we'll deal with that Thursday.

Holly Partners (HEP) Sunoco Logistics (SXL) and Inergy Holdings (NRGP) are today's big winners and SXL and NRGP are flirting with 52 week highs. Most mlps up fractionally and nothing notable on the short losers list.

HEADING FOR THE TOP OF THE RANGE!

I still think its end of quarter plus all these new etfs coming on but its hard to argue against a nearly 2% gain last Friday against an overall market which really didnt do much. We have been in a bull market now for 18 months in mlp land and the outperformance to the regular market continues. The spread however widened considerably last week as MLPS outperformed the overall market by a spread of over 6%. Outperformance yes but the wide spread can't last forever. And one must wonder...or worry what happens when etfs have to sell one day. Are there going to be any buyers around? There was a time when mlps traded by appointment only. Those days may be long gone.

Okay folks you buy or sell today it settles in q3. Wednesday is the last day of Q2 so i would suspect that buying pressure will continue for our group. The chart formation would argue for another run back to 320 in the short term. Its hard to argue against that. No corporate news this morning of any importance and so far no upgrades or downgrades. Stock futures are firm into the open. Crude and nat gas are down a little bit. Dollar is up today by a little bit. People have the holiday weekend on their mind so look for trading to slow as the week moves on. The open looms.

A 6 point plus gain on the mlp index this afternoon as there seems to be an end of quarter rush into this group while big energy stocks continue to suffer under the fire of BP and the Gulf spill. 1 point plus gains are on the board for many of the majors including Plains All American (PAA) Williams (WPZ) Buckeye (BPL) and Oneok(OKS).



Last hour shennanigans will likely swing the barometer back and forth before the close. Looks like a tropical storm could be in the works for the Gulf of Mexico early next week and that is driving oil right now to a 2 dollar gain.

MAKING SENSE OF OUTPERFORMANCE

I've been trying to come to terms with this week's strange action where MLPS have pretty much been flat while the broad market has been down four days in a row. The S&P is down 5% this week while the MLP index is down less than 1 percent. And we closed up yesterday with the dow down 150. And this morning the outperformance continues as we see an oversold rally developing. The mlp index is up 2 and back near the top of the neckline at 305.






Notice the six month spread is 10%..we're up 5 and the market is down 5. The movements this week i think are end of quarter related and you wonder if it all gets undone late next week. Also i am not fond of the tape action overall. Frankly its become very disturbing and i wonder whether the market is coming to terms with the fact that deflation may be taking hold here. 10 year rates at 3% are not saying good things about the economy.

Still the rally continues this Friday morning as we are now up nearly 2.50 on the mlp index with the overall market flat. Kinder Morgan (KMP) Buckeye (BPL) and Williams Partners (WPZ) lead the winners list with 50 cent plus gains. No notable losers.

Watch the tape for any signs of a slow fade again although Fridays tend to draw buyers late in the day going into the weekend. Tropics may be heating up as it looks like something is trying to form in the Western Caribbean which could mean a Gulf of Mexico impact next week. By the way guess who has a vacation planned in Panama City Beach FL in a couple of weeks!

MLPS beginning to move solidly head up over 1.25 on the index. Buckeye Partners (BPL) Alliance Resource (ARLP), Oneok (OKS) and Copano (CPNO) showing solid fractional gains in here. Nice to see the tape move ahead for mlps. The dow is down 65. Also noticing that 3% for 10 years is not thrilling bond holders and we are actually seeing a rally in yields for the first time in awhile. The 10 year is up to a whopping 3.13% in here.

Thinking maybe this is end of quarter nonsense supporting mlp prices? The strength here seems a bit odd in some respect considering how the rest of the market is swooning here. Dow down over 100 right now.

Most mlps are now higher with the index higher by 60 cents or so. The dow is down 81. Strength here pretty impressive if you ask me.

LESS IS MORE!

Not sure what is going on. Maybe its a 3% 10 year yield making mlps appear undervalued. Maybe its the firm nat gas price these days. Maybe its just more buyers than sellers. Whatever it is MLPS continue to strongly outperform the broader market. With the dow down over 100 points the index is down a small fraction. Also not sure what if anything is going on with Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) which is up nearly a dollar this morning. Dont seen any news there and the volume isnt all that high. Otherwise fractional moves of minus 50 cents to plus 50 cents...more mlps down than up.

Busy in the house this morning. Will update later.

THE FED AT 2:15PM

The fed fixation is on today so its all about 2:15pm and whether the fed takes a word or 2 out of the statement. With the 10 year now close to 3.10, what does it say about the world and the US economy? Ask yourself what kind of a world is it when someone is willing to take 3 percent guaranteed on their money for 10 years. It doesnt say good things. So many of us remember all 2 well that 30 years ago long rates began their long march to almost 15% on the 30 year. Those bonds are almost mature now (time does go by quickly). We are used to viewing the world through the prism of high rates being bad..falling rates being good. But that came off 15 years of uncontrolled inflation. It took nearly 15 years to wring out that evil. Now we are in the world as it was most of the time. Low rates are not sending a pretty picture. And if the US is the new Japan..3% yields would look attractive (Japan long rates are around 0.5 or so.). UGH!!! MLPS of course are paying to 6 to 8% with risk attached. What if we head into another downturn? Can these companies continue to grow their payouts if business slows to a crawl and demand drops? All questions to consider and ponder carefully.

Of course that is the broad picture and as we take a look at the charts we are not nearly as somber this morning. Yesterday's slow fade and then late selloff was demoralizing to be sure but the MLP index only lost a little over a point and remains above support. Sometimes the sell off catches up on the second day. Stock futures are higher this morning so it looks like we're going to undo a little of the late mess. The euro is up which is good for stocks overall. No corporate news this morning. Wunderlich downgrades Inergy (NRGY) to a hold but raises the target price on Inergy Holdings (NRGP) from 28 to 30.

So lets prepare for another trading day. Oil inventory numbers at 10:30am. That doesnt count whats floating in the Gulf of Mexico. Its a summer Wednesday so the trading pace continues to move into full summer mode. BTW we have MLP ETNs and now comes the MLP ETF. Frankly i rather not have all this attention.

Its been a sort of watching paint dry kind of day so far but mlps seem to have a firm tone to them. The index is up fractionally over 305. Everyone seems to be somewhere between minus 50 cents to plus 50 cents. Nustar (NSH) among the plus 50 winners as there is still some idea that what Buckeye Partners (BPL) did for holders of Buckeye Holdings (BGH); Nustar might do the same and buyout its GP. The GP has been strong ever since that deal was announced by Buckeye last week. No notable movers really as there are no real news drivers today.

DOES THE REVERSAL HAVE MEANING?

As demoralizing as downside reversals can be, and its no fun to watch one happening, it hard to extract too much meaning out of yesterday's turn from higher to lower. First off MLPS never really took off to any great extent...at most the index was up three. And in the end it still managed to close fractionally higher. The dow took it a little harder but it only closed down 9 points. And volume yesterday wasnt anything to scream at. So we'll just view it as noise for the time being. Not much downside followthrough this morning with futures flat. So we'll call it a wash and move on.

Not much happening this morning. Corporate developements for now are non existant. Stock futures are flat. The dollar is higher. Energy is lower. The fed begins a 2 day meeting so we have the 2:15pm ritual tomorrow. Can't imagine they are going to change anything with the recent economic numbers looking a tad soft. Still the statement will be watched for every period and every comma and every verb. UGH!

Okay lets keep an eye on whether the market can get its footing today and rally back to yesterday's highs which was around 10,600. MLPS looking at 310 as the next logical stock as the short term trend remains bullish.

Looks like the Markwest move is due to a Street.com piece where it gets a Cramer goose. Markwest is mentioned on page 2 of the article. Markwest up 1.20 at 33.20. Piece basically suggests nat gas is the way to go and mlps do it with high yield. Investors may be waking up to this.

Not sure why but Markwest (MWE) is up 95 cents in the premarket on active trades and is bidding 33.10 right now. No news that i can find but still searching.

Meredith Whitney took some points out of the futures with her bearish outlook as she hosts the second hour on CNBC. Dow still up over 100.

WEEK STARTING OFF ROARING!

Stock futures have been higher from the get-go at 6pm Sunday and we are at the highs of the morning up 135 on the dow industrial futures. Charts are looking more and more like a W bottom formation and we are moving above the moving averages again on the DOW. The mlp index continues to outperform as we are above the moving averages and poised to break 305 which is the top of the leg of the W. So it stands to reason that with a supportive tape we should head to 310 in short order and ultimately we will challenge that 320 high. No reason not to stay bullish.

Corporate developements this morning as low priced Crosstex Energy (XTEX,XTXI) continues to gather more assets which look to be accretive to cash flow. Should cause a pop on the open for this one. Otherwise we are pretty bare on the news front this morning. No upgrades or downgrades so far. End of month and end of quarter pressures will being to play into the game over the next few days so there could be some volatility in both directions so beware of that. However any downside spikes that occur could be nice buying opportunities.

Markets pre open are all solidly higher as mentioned early. Crude and nat gas are higher. BTW..looking at weather trends conditions could become more favorable for some sort of tropical storm developement over the next week to 10 days. This of course will be a short term driver for the energy complex. And of course there is BP and the Gulf of Mexico. Keep this site in your bookmarks for the latest on the tropics. European stocks are rallying and 10 year rates are rising as equities move up.

Found this over the weekend on Smart Money about mlps. It is another example of how we are no longer the best kept secret out there.

Stock futures up 132 points on the dow and 15 S&P points on China moving to allow its currency to float against the dollar. Should be a fun Monday.

Saw this post about nat gas mlps. Makes sense.

EL PASO OFFERS SHARES

Thats the big move this morning as El Paso Partners (EPB) is selling units to finance the purchase of assets it announced yesterday. The stock is down 1.30 in the premarket. The company has the currency so it might as well take advantage of it. Otherwise its a quiet morning on options expiration day. MLPS closed up over 305 on the index as a last minute rally pushed prices up into the close. So now its all about the weekend. No upgrades or downgrades this morning. Markets overall are flat into the open and usually expiration day tends to be relative quiet from the standpoint of moves. Still there are end of quarter pressures that are going to show up soon and i would think there will be a rush to own mlps as they have done so well. But that is just a very short term distortion.

Crude is down and nat gas is up and the nat gas rally appears to be something that might last for awhile. 5 dollar nat gas is probably much more supportive to mlps unhedged to energy prices. Its sure better than 3 dollar gas.

Speaking of gas..heading out to buy a new grill...back right after the open.

Becky Quick this morning on CNBC gets it on with Lannie Davis over butts and ass! Nice.

Down 50 at lunchtime with mlps down 1 and off the lows of the day. No big moves to speak of..small fractions in either direction. El Paso Partners (EPB) is increasing its interest in Southern Natural Gas Company which they say will be good for their bottom line. The stock is yawning on the news down 10 cents as of this post.

THE QUIET WINNING STREAK!

While horse racing discusses Zenyatta's 17th win in a row (if you havent seen it scroll down to Monday's post), we here in MLP land have a 7 day winning streak and we've cleared the middle part of the W. So the next logical stop is the 320 level and if the market gets in full gear, maybe new all time highs on the mlp index at 340. Getting ahead of ourselves yes but we seem to have everything at our backs here including some momentum. Low rates, rising nat gas, and rising stock prices, a drive of cash to risk that pays in yield, and the proliferation in MLP ETF's which, make no mistake, is adding to volatility.

Its all quiet on the corporate news front this morning and so far the upgrade downgrade list is free and clear. Stock futures are higher this morning. The dollar is lower and crude is a little lower. Nat gas is higher and over 5 bucks on futures,

THE BIG "W"

The "W" bottom in the mlp index looks pretty good in here and we are now going to look at the 305 level as a place where we need to get through. It seems like 320 is the next major challenge which is the high for this move and that will be a major test. So the path of least resistence technically is higher. The mlp index is up nearly 3 points and its being led by Williams Partners (WPZ) as it is right at a 52 week high. Holly Partners (HEP) Sunoco Logistics (SXL) and Oneok (OKS) are up major fractions to a point in here. Just a handful of losers down 10 cents or less.

Dow up 115, crude and nat gas are up nicely. And we are in an options expiration week with an upside bias. The wind now appears to be at our back!

Dow up 100 and mlps up over 302 now with a 3 point gain. Nustar Holdings (NSH) is the biggest winner up 1.27 as it continues to move on last week's gp buyout by Buckeye (BPL). Alliance Holdings GP was up nearly 1 earlier but is now unchanged. Exterran Partners (EXLP) and Plains All American (PAA) are the two biggest winners out side of NSH..both are up about 1 or so.

On the losing end just Nustar (NS) on the list at unchanged and we have TC Pipelines (TCLP) and Calumet Specialty Products (CLMT) off just a few pennies. Nice day so far.

LOOKS LIKE A BOTTOM..
FEELS LIKE A BOTTOM..THEN IT MUST BE????

From the standpoint of the MLP index i think we definitely put in a double bottom and now we are clearly above the supporting moving averages and 300 is inorder this morning at the open. Its all about relative outperformance and that continues in a pretty strong way. If the dow rallies back to 11,000 it might do it with MLPS breaking out to new highs for the move. After Thursday's and Friday's action in the markets i am optimistic. Nice feeling for a Monday morning.

This morning we see stock futures racing ahead nicely and it looks like a solid up open. Energy is higher this morning and Euro markets are in rally mode. No corporate headlines so far this morning and nothing yet on the upgrade downgrade list. So lets head into the open with a nice cup of coffee and a good breakfast since it looks like we will be holding food down today.

Finally for your enjoyment...a race for the ages and a horse for the ages as well! A 100 dollar bet on her first win and then rolled over on the next 16 and you would have close to a million bucks!

MLPS are moving ahead and at the highs of the day up 1.55 on the index and this with a 2 point loss in Buckeye (BPL). Some GPs are getting attention on the Buckeye Holdings (BGH) takeover. Alliance Resource Holdings (AHGP) is up 1 at 34 and near a 52 week high. Nustar Holdings (NSH) is up 60 cents as perhaps whats good for the goose may be good for the gander. Almost all mlps are higher except for a very thin list of losers that are off just small fractions. The Buckeye loss is probably shaving a good 2 points off the mlp index which would be back over 300 otherwise. Relative strength continues and with a 10 year at 3.20...why not!

MLPS have either side of unch this morning and now are basically unch. With the exception of Buckeye Holdings which is up 5 1/2 and Buckeye Partners which is down 2 1/2 everything else is moving small fractions either side of unchanged.

Buckeye Partners (BPL) is down 1.67 in the pre market in a few isolated trades while Buckeye Holdings (BGH) is up 5 and change on the deal news.

Futures holding just below fair value ahead of retail sales numbers at 8:30am.

PUTTING HUMPTY DUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN!

News item this morning that should get some pulses racing. It was just a few short years ago when IPO's of GPS were all the rage. Well now we have the second case of the MLP buying the GP. Magellan(MMP) did it first a few months back and now we have Buckeye Partners (BPL) using its relatively rich currency to buy Buckeye Holdings (BGH) at a nice premium to yesterday's close. Holders of Buckeye Holdings (BGH) will get .7 shares of Buckeye Partners (BPL) which works out to a little over 40 bucks based on yesterday's BPL close of 58! Remember back during the meltdown there was a 17 dollar offer on the table from some outside holders that fell apart? Looking back...that was a good thing! BGH is bid 35.50 ask 40 after closing at 31.18.

We had a nice gain yesterday of 4 plus points which was a little less than than the overall markets move of over 2 percent. Sometimes at the beginnings of rallies we move a little less on the first breakout day and play catch up over the next few. Assuming its not a one day bounce 300 is in sight again. Markets are a little softer ahead of the open. Dollar is down this morning, gold is up, and energy is up. No upgrades or downgrades so far this morning.

SOLID GAINS BUT OFF THE HIGHS!

We ran right from the get go this morning with the dow up 230 and mlp index up over 5. We've pulled back a bit since the mid morning highs but still up over 180 on the down and 3 and change on the mlp index. Alliance Resource (ARLP) and Alliance Holdings (AHGP) are the 2 biggest winners up 1.50 apiece while Natural Resource (NRP) and Williams Partners (WPZ) are up about 1. Most mlps showing fractional gains and just a couple of mlps shedding pennies.

Short post here. Busy day.

Ran up to a 4 point gain on the mlp index only to now being up a little under 3. Some sellers have come into certain drillers and BP which is down another 3 dollars and heading for zero i suppose. Otherwise most mlps are fractionally higher with Nustar (NS) up 1.35 as the days big winner.

Tape feels firm but there are pressures out there.

LOVE BEING HUMBLED!

Of course right at the point yesterday that i was predicting the markets demise and mlps with it, the market turned and closed higher and the mlp index closed up over 2 points. And that rally mode continues this morning as futures are higher and slowly building on strength. So at least it looks like a fairly solid up open and we have something to build on for the rest of the day.

Earnings news with a nice quarter from Ferrellgas (FGP) which everytime i look at it, is trading around the same price; never seems to go anywhere. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) had one of its partially owned nat gas lines blow yesterday with one person killed. These are sensitive times when it comes to these sorts of events. But clearly this is not BP.

Crude is up this morning, nat gas is down a little. Gold traded yesterday at all time highs. The dollar is a little stronger against the euro (surprise) and european stock markets are firm ahead of the open. OOPS the euro has just turned higher and is over 120.

Just broke below 9800. Not looking good at all. MLPS off the lows of the day by about a point on the mlp index.

NOT LOOKING GOOD!

It doesn't look good out there. Rally attempts continue and they keep getting overwhelmed by sellers. I haven't thrown in the towel yet but it just feels like the markets want to break down in here so watch the last hour. Dow has gone from +70 to unchanged in a hurry in the last 20 minutes or so. MLPS were up earlier and now are down by 2 1/2 points on the index. We continue to out perform relatively speaking but that only means we are down less on a percentage basis. We are still down.

Drillers getting hit by the Goldman downgrade so there is some pressure from energy stocks as a whole though Exxon is up a buck or so for some reason. Most mlps are down major fractions with Plains All American (PAA) and Holly Partners (HEP) leading the losers list down just under a buck each. Williams (WPZ) is showing a 40 cent gain among a small list of winners.

Markets swinging back and forth but mlps seem to have the bit in the teeth and are now up at the highs of the day...up nearly 2 on the index as we enjoy lunch.

Suooco Logsitics is put on Goldmans conviction buy list which is something new. Cant remember an MLP being put on that list. The stock is up 1.88. Buckeye Partners is cut to sell by Goldman and it also cutring El Paso to neutral from buy. El Paso is up a fraction and Buckeye is down 70 cents.

MLPS up fractionally after the index ran up about 2 points at the high. The dow is a little higher in cautious back and forth early trade. The list is split 50-50 between winners and losers and the moves are fractional in nature.

STILL STRADDLING THE BOTTOM!





Friday's 300 plus point decline takes us right down the the very bottom that the Dow Industrials are trying to carve out. The MLP chart looks alot better and Friday's action was not as bad as the overall tape. So we have this going for us on this Monday morning. Stock futures overnight were sharply lower but have pulled back even as of this post. We are certainly entitiled to an up open but these levels have to hold on the Dow. Otherwise we could be at the brink of another serious leg down in stocks overall. Energy continues to have its umbilical cord tied to BP and the oil spill. MLPS have the big yield spread between them and the 10 year yield as a magnet for some money; that is as long as the risk trade is working.

Corporate news wise it is early and right now we have no headlines to speak of and no upgrades or downgrades. No doubt that Fridays employment numbers were awful. But i guess for traders that means that next month there could be upward revisions. The Euro has caught a bid under 120. Crude and nat gas are a little lower at the moment.

Job numbers was nothing short of awful. Take out the census workers and it is clear the private sector is still shrinking. Futures collapsing.

THE BIG "W"

We had an outstanding day yesterday in mlp land with the index up over 6 points. Suddenly we are poking our heads above the moving average support lines. And lets put this into a weekly context and you will notice that this entire correction has taking us right to support which has held. The daily chart looks like a W bottom formation. Considering how strong the relative outperformance is mlps may be poised to make new highs for the move.

Up 6 points, down 6 points, this seems to be the new world we live in. We have all noticed the mlp funds that have been showing up. Remember when a 1 or 2 point up or down move on the index was a big deal? Those days are gone folks. But with larger swings comes opportunity for those of you inclined to short term trade from time to time. Longer term the drivers for higher prices remain in place. Low long term rates on the 10 year and a yield spread over 3 percentage points will continue to drive money to the group. Also lets look at the BP mess and our little group looks like the safer way to play energy. No oil rigs blowing up here! All of this is playing into this bottom building process.

Stock futures are lower this morning ahead of job numbers which are due out shortly. Euro fears are swirling over Hungary and a few other nations. Futures are off their lows at the moment. Rates are falling in flight to quality. Energy is a little lower and we have no corporate news to speak of.

Sorry about yesterday's lack of posts but sometimes work gets a bit out of hand.

ANOTHER RALLY ATTEMPT!

An up open this morning but who knows if it will hold. Markets look defensive as evidenced yesterday with rally attempts being met with sellers and then the last half hour debacle that carried us down over 100 on the dow. MLPS did us a favor by giving up the ghost early thanks to the absolute throw them out the window pessimism that is all over the energy stocks thanks to BP and the gulf mess. So at least some plus signs at the open and then we'll see where we go. MLPS are above the trading lows so there is still some support if we can gain traction.

A few things of note today as Inergy Holdings (NRGP) which is the best performer of the last 15 months in the group is doing a 3-1 split. And Penn Virginia Holdings (PVG) is doing a public offering of 8 million shares. Its going to be down but for whatever reason they like to sell Penn Virginia Resource (PVR) when this happens. Not sure why since its the GP and not the LP doing the offering.

Okay we've opened higher by about a point on the MLP index so lets see where this goes today.

Looks like the end of month support is getting undone today in mlp land. That plus pressure on energy stocks in general thanks to BP and your seeing a sell off of 4 plus points on the mlp index. Kinder Morgan (KMP) Oneok (OKS) Buckeye (BPL) Alliance Resource (ARLP) and Markwest (MWE) all down 1 point or more. A couple of small mlps like Breitburn (BBEP) and Penn Virginia (PVR) showing tiny gains and giving up the ghost as the energy pressure continues.

Looks like the battle of yield attraction vs the general hatred of energy right now is being one by the latter. Doesnt look hopeful for an up close in the group today. The overall market is a little higher but not by much.

POST HOLIDAY BOTTOM BUILDING?

Back from a soccer weekend in Baltimore/Washington so im a little groggy this morning but going foward. Starting a short week with selling this morning with futures down rather hard this morning..100 dow points as of this post. We are coming off a week of relative outperformance in MLPS especially Friday where the market just sank lower and lower while mlps held on and closed with a small loss. When you look at the chart we can see what could be bottom building and the beginning of what could be a wide trading range. The boundries look to be 275 ish at the bottom side. The top side is yet to be defined. The former uptrend lines and moving averages lie just above us and we need to get through those. 300 shows a little area of congestion that could prove tough..and then there is then high around 320. We'll let that part of the equation play itself out. The overall market holds the key to whether the bottom holds in mlps since we are in position to see the market go to lower lows while we do not. Certanly lots of questions.

Looking around this morning the news is non existent on the corporate front and nothing shows up on the upgrade downgrade list so far. The dollar is rallying this morning, rates are a little lower. Crude is down but nat gas is a little higher.