Portfolio Update

• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) added to Growth Portfolio; buy below $48
• KKR (NYSE: KKR) added to Aggressive Portfolio; buy below $26

Sprang, soared, jumped. Rallied, rose, rolled. Rebounded, recouped, recovered.

I’ve just completed the monthly Portfolio Update summarizing, among other things, recent unit performance, and I didn’t see such strong, broad gains even at the sector’s peak last summer.

There were many more monthly double-digit gainers between March 16 and the afternoon of April 15 than there were recommendations that lost any ground.

It’s mostly an artifact of timing, of course, mid-March marking the most recent lows for MLPs as well as crude. It’s also clearly, in no small part, a function of the recent rally in oil prices, which investors have unwisely come to associate with the outlook for the entire midstream space.

We’ve taken the opportunity to once again venture off the beaten track and into the booming alternative asset management industry dominated by a handful of exceptionally lucrative partnerships. This month’s Sector Spotlight examines the trends driving strong demand for their expertise, while New Buys zeroes in on a couple of industry leaders we’re heartily recommending.

In Focus updates the outlook for Energy Transfer’s proposed Lake Charles LNG export terminal following the buyout of its partner by Shell. That’s probably improved the project’s odds, although here, too, higher crude prices deserve some credit.

Enjoy crude’s comeback while it lasts. We continue to recommend businesses that for the most part will do well even if it doesn’t.