Many of the recommended publicly traded partnerships–master limited partnerships (MLPs) and limited liability companies (LLCs)–in The Energy Strategist have been hit in the past few days. And they really got slammed at the opening of trading today.

A few, including Natural Resource Partners (NYSE: NRP) and NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS), have sliced through my recommended stops. At one point today, the most stable pipeline partnership in the group, Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), was off more than 8 percent, with the dividend yield spiking to more than 7 percent for the first time in two years.

I see this as an outstanding buying opportunity, perhaps the best opportunity to jump into this group that you’ll see this year. If you were stopped out of any of the recommended MLP picks, jump back in. And if you’re not already in to these high-yielding plays, use this as an opportunity to get in at an attractive price.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the Nov. 22, 2006, issue of TES, Leading Income, outlines the investment case for the partnerships.

The current problem is threefold. First, the market is worried about bonds. Corporate debt has become more expensive in recent weeks, and it’s harder for companies to raise debt capital.

Partnerships tend to carry higher debt burdens than average companies, so their cost of capital is on the rise. But most of the partnerships I recommend have already raised a lot of cash to fund their expansion projects for the next six to 12 months.

Companies such as Enterprise have a limited need to access debt markets right now and can afford to wait until the credit markets settle down. And their debt burdens are well backed by extraordinarily strong, stable, cash-generating assets such as pipelines. Although credit costs are up, they’re still relatively low by historical standards.

Second, the partnerships–and the energy sector at large–are being used as a funding currency. In other words, institutions like hedge funds are looking to raise cash, and their energy-related investments are among the biggest winners. Therefore, they’re selling the group as a means to take profits and raise cash.

Finally, even Enterprise Products Partners, the most widely traded MLP I cover, trades only 750,000 shares or so on average per day. Because the stock is relatively thin, it doesn’t take much selling pressure to send the stock down.

I expect the panic-selling in this group to pass, and we’ll look back on this in six months as an outstanding buying opportunity in the group. I’ve updated the portfolios to reflect new stop recommendations on many of these recommendations.