IS THE MLP BULL MARKET OVER?

The headline is the question of the day certainly. Its easy to see when news items about possible taxation hit the tape and ever since then MLPS have sold down. The one day bounce of 6 points we got last week was just that, a one day bounce. It seems that now that we have this taxation threat looming overhead, whether real or percieved, it probably means that uncertainty now hangs over the group and any upticks should probably be sold until this gets sorted out. We're down 4 points this morning on the index and energy stocks as a whole are getting sold pretty hard so far today.

Raymond James has a habit of making mlps move when they make a ratings change and we are seeing that this morning with Inergy Partners (NRGY) which is down nearly 2 dollars on a downgrade from strong buy to buy. Lots of 1 point plus losers on the tape this morning including Alliance Resource (ARLP) Oneok (OKS) Markwest (MWE) and Sunoco Logstics (SXL). Many other mlps like Nustar (NS) Natural Resource (NRP) Williams (WPZ) and Atlas Energy LP (ATLS) are losing major fractions. And of course on a day like today the winners list is miniscule.

Crude oil inventory numbers came out bearish and that is causing the selloff to get extended. MLPS are now down 5 points and at the lows of the day. Nat gas is also down after being up yesterday.

Done with jury duty for 6 years (amen) but have been battling a severe head cold the last 5 days. Post wedding blues i guess. Not fun when your head is full of water and oak pollen is everywhere.