Editors Note: In the spirit of the holiday season and the launch of his redesigned website, Elliott has decided to allow subscribers to pick the topic for the Dec. 22 issue of The Energy Strategist. You can see the three options and cast your vote using the form on the lower left of the homepage. The poll will close on Dec. 15, 2011, so be sure to vote soon.

Although the price of Brent crude oil has remained above $100 per barrel and natural-gas prices remain elevated in many international markets, shares of oil and gas services companies have struggled mightily in the back half of the year.

The TES Oil Index, for example, has declined 8.4 percent since June 30, 2011, and the TES Deepwater Index has given up 8.5 percent, while the S&P 500 lost only 5.2 percent. Meanwhile, investors in many energy-related names have suffered gut-wrenching volatility amid ongoing concerns about the EU sovereign-debt crisis and global economic growth.

Throughout this difficult period, we’ve advocated a tripartite strategy: locking in high yields on our favorite master limited partnerships (MLP) and other dividend-paying fare; buying oil services names and other stocks that offer exposure to compelling growth stories; and offsetting some of your portfolio’s energy exposure through the short positions in the Hedges Portfolio.

The past several issues of The Energy Strategist have explored different facets of this strategy, including the total-return opportunities offered by US oil and gas trusts.

These investments, which we first introduced in The Yield Issue from Oct. 6, 2011, and further explored in Income Traps and Treasures, struck a chord with subscribers, prompting a number of questions about oil and gas trusts that we hadn’t covered.

In this issue, we analyze four trusts that subscribers have asked about in recent emails and discuss the tax implications of owning these vehicles. Readers can as me any questions about oil and gas trusts or our other Portfolio holdings in my upcoming Live Chat, on Dec.15, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. EST. To make sure you don’t miss out on the discussion, sign up for an email reminder. The proceedings will be archived on the website for those who aren’t able to attend.

In This Issue

The Stories

1. You have questions; we have answers. Here’s our take on four US oil and gas trusts that subscribers have asked about in recent weeks. See Readers’ Choice.

The Stocks

MV Oil Trust (NYSE: MVO)–Hold
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE: BPT)–Hold
Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE: HGT)–SELL in Energy Watch List
Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT)–Buy < 18 in Energy Watch List