Duke Energy, one of the best known utility companies in the nation, has announced plans to separate its business into two parts: the mainly regulated utility operations as Duke Energy and its midstream gas business to be called Spectra. Under current plans, every DUK shareholder will receive one share of Spectra for every two shares of Duke owned. This could play out as a very profitable move for both Duke and its shareholders. Read More
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An update on earnings released from several portfolio holdings. Read More
With oil dropping briefly under $60 per barrel and natural gas under $5, there's been a good deal of volatility in the energy patch. The recent dip under $60 put crude at the low end of its valuation range, but falling gasoline prices in the US may help stimulate more demand for oil. Also, with the teeth of the winter season still to come, natural gas under $5 reflects short-term supply issues, not the long-term supply/demand imbalance. Read More
Three months ago, Richard Kinder, the CEO of Kinder Morgan, offered to take the pipeline firm private at $100.00 a share. However, the offer price was recently raised to $107.50 so the stock is now trading at around $104.50; so, rather than wait for the deal to be completed, take profits now. Read More
Options can be used as an excellent risk management tool which locks in some gains and hedges against a pullback or correction. Read More
BG Group (formerly British Gas) is added to the Wildcatters Portfolio. I like BG Group for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the company has some of the world's most attractive E&P assets; production is about 70 percent weighted in favor of natural gas, although the company's oil assets are also attractive. Read More
CSX released its second quarter earnings report, which bodes well not only for it, but for the railroad industry as a whole. Read More
The recent correction in the energy sector continues unabated, as the Philadelphia Oil Services Index is now trading roughly 18 percent off its May highs. While the fundamentals for the group are undimmed longer term, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the lows of this correction. Every great bull market in history has seen periodic vicious corrections of as much as 30 percent before ultimately rallying to new highs. For more aggressive traders, this is an excellent opportunity to consider using short positions or puts to directly benefit from further downside in selected issues. Read More
Elliott has prepared a special report detailing the use of options. Read More
Most energy stocks have seen a significant correction since late January/early February of this year. Depending upon which index you look at, the pullback measures roughly 12 to 18 percent from high to low. If history is any guide the recent pullback is healthy for the group. Last year there were two corrections of roughly the same magnitude, first in May then in October. Both served up an excellent buying opportunity for investors. Read More