We closed up nearly 2 points and near the high of the day. Nothing inspiring on end of quarter. It was actually pretty tame compared to some past end of quarter days.

At least we are but a month or so away from the next round of distributions.

Not bad so far today. The index is up .75 and about 1 point off its high. Looks like a firm tone to most issues. Inergy Holdings is down about 50 cents as the biggest loser but thats on just 1000 shares. Most of the losers are showing small fractional losses while the winners are showing small fractional gains. Sunoco Logistics (SXL) is up close to 1 point as the biggest winner. End of quarter stuff going on so i would look for some swings in the last hour.

Trying to get some clues today as to where the end of quarter nonsense will bring us. George Ball, money manager for some firm which i did not catch, was touting MLPS as a good way to go from here as far as putting money to work fwiw. Stocks look to open flat even with the Merck disaster of the day. Nat gas is up, oil is down this morning.

301.13 to 272.72

Down over 28 points for the quarter or just a shade under 10%. That is what the MLP index did for the quarter. And of course the losses among many individual issues is far worse. The low of the quarter was 262. So now we are at the last day of these horrible 3 months so there should be all kinds of end of quarter nonsense today. Beware of odd moves that could occur in both directions.

Targa Resources (NGLS) chooses today to bring quarterly earnings out on the table. All kinds of distortions here due to purchases. No other headlines and so far no upgrades or downgrades.

Back from vacation so its back to normal blogging. Also got to get my taxes done.

En route home to NY. Blogging from Ft. Laurderdale airport. Looks like a stronger open this morning on the back of stronger futures. No news drivers that i could find this morning and no upgrades or downgrades.

Nustar priced its offering yesterday at 48.75. Looks like that one will be under a little pressure this morning.

VACATION TAKING PRIORITY

OVER MLPS TODAY!

Sorry for the lack of posts but it is the last day of vacation on the beaches of South Florida. Heading for Smith & Wolinsky's in Miami for dinner tonight then its an 8am Friday flight back to Islip NY where its in the 30s.

Nustar (NS) is down 2 on a stock offering today...otherwise after a higher open we have sold off a bit but it looks orderly after a 3 day run-up.

Nice finish with a 3 point plus gain on the MLP index and a number of mlps were up 1 point or more which is always nice to see.

heading out to dinner. Today was the last day to sell or buy for settlement by next monday which brings an end to the first quarter.

MARKET DOWN BUT MLPS UP!

Thats a switch with the index building on gains since the open and its up 2 points while the dow is down 100. Energy is strong today with crude up 4 dollars so that is providing support. Also it appears the great hedge fund unwind has run its course; i say appears because you don't know what is out there but i guess last Thursday morning's blowout of the big stocks in the group may have signaled a bottom.

Late first post this morning as my vacation is winding down. Flying back on Friday so i should be back to normal next monday. Plains All American(PAA) which was up 2 yesterday is up 1 and change today and leads the way higher. E V Partners (EVEP) is up nearly 1 as the ceo picks up another large block of shares on the open market. Also a second insider picked up shares.

Tape overall feels a little better and certainly the outperformance relative to the market is encouraging.

NICE UP DAY YESTERDAY

NOW FOR SOME FOLLOWTHROUGH!

One day does not an uptrend make so we need to see some more upside today to add to the nearly 5 point gain on the index. It was certainly long overdue and in fact we need to play some catch up in here to gain any sort of confidence. Still 1 to 2 point gains in some of these yesterday is at least an indication that these issues can recover lost ground rather quickly given the right circumstances.

Watch the reactions of Boardwalk(BWP) and Teppco (TPP) as both companies priced some debt last night. Teppco priced long term debt at what looks like some favorable rates. Boardwalk did a private placement of senior notes. Given the credit conditions a favorable reaction could be a sign that at least at some level the sieze up in credit conditions may be improving for mlps. Boardwalk also getting an upgrade to outperform from Morgan Keegan. Second upgrade for this issue in the last week.

No other headlines that i could see though it is possible i missed something. I'm blogging from a friend's computer this morning in beautiful West Palm Beach where it is a crisp 53 degrees this morning under a sunny sky...but better than the 20s back in NY.

I've taken care of the ad issue but it may take 24 hrs or so for it to take hold. Stock futures are stronger this morning as last week's bottom looks more and more like "the" bottom and not "a" bottom.

I have changed my ad specs to allow for only family friendly ads but it may take 24 hrs or so to take effect. Again my apologies.

SORRY FOR THE RISQUE' ADS. I'm addressing the issue and will have them removed. They should not be there in the first place. Again my apologies

Up 5 on the index this morning as just about everything in the group is moving higher with lots of 1 point plus gains or at least strong fractions. Finally some positive movement but we have a long way to go just to bring us back to something resembling normal.

WILL MLPS RISE TODAY?

Doubtful but if we can't rally 'em in here....it really is over. Some posititives might be the fact that they finally have come around to sell down the big boys in the group in a big way. Kinder Morgan (KMP) last Thursday had a 5 point intraday decline. Enterprise (EPD) had a 3+ point drop at one point. Both recovered somewhat by days end. The MLP index was down 4 and change at 10am and cut its losses down to about 1 point and back at 266 after dropping as low as 262. I know it wasn't an up close but the turn was important. A few issues like Constellation Partners (CEP) and Holly Partners (CEP) among others staged key reversals. Straw grasping is an interesting sport but it is the only game in town.

Market looks to be in rally mode as end of quarter approaches. No news drivers and no upgrades or downgrades.

Still in Florida for another week or until the money runs out!

Losses cut to 1.50. Kinder Morgan and Enterprise unwind marking some sort of a bottom?

MLP losses (on the index) which is weighed heavily by Kinder Morgan and Enterprise (EPD) have quickly been cut in half to minus 2.

Must read from the comments section as Cramer addresses MLP woes.

Kinder Morgan down nearly 4 dollars right now! MLP index down to 263. Point and figure charts had a 261 target and we're almost there..fwiw! The big boys in the group are getting hammered!

Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP) down over 2 dollars right now and that is taking the MLP index down nearly 2 points. No news here but the pace of the selling suggests someone was unwinding.

Markwest (MWE) on the other hand opened up 1 and remains higher. They announced open season on one of their pipelines.

EASTER HOLIDAY LOOMS

NO RESURRECTION HERE!

Doom and gloom continue in MLP land. No signs of a bottom, Some pre-market selling in a few issues which is unusual. No reason for hope in here. Just lower prices and even higher yields. Hedge funds continue a massive unwinding of positions. My God it feels like we own tech stocks and its 2000 all over again.

Nothing of consequence in the news department. No upgrades or downgrades. You would think the brokerage houses would come out and defend some of these but except for Wachovia defending Boardwalk (BWP) yesterday we have silence.

Crude and Nat gas all down very hard this morning. Crude is under 100 bucks and nat gas has an 8 handle on it again. Commodities collapsing (finally) affecting the same hedge funds driving margin calls.

Hopeless.

2rDown to 266 on the index. The breakout move from 2 years ago has now been completely wiped out! I suppose it had to happen that they would finally get around to selling off the big boys as Kinder Morgan (KMP) Enterprise (EPD) and a few others are down 1 to 2 points. The smaller ones continue their decent.

Perhaps when they get to zero with an infinite yield...someone might find them attractive.