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Strategies & Market Trends : Dividend investing for retirement -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SAM who wrote (5062)	7/7/2010 7:00:12 PM
From: chowder	Respond to of 34328

Sam, I own D, DUK and PGN in the utility sector. I own D, even though it doesn't have the highest ratings because my sister has owned it for decades and over that period of time, it has done very well. I own DUK because I thought it was positioned to come back strong. I can't say that it will. I can only say I have a decent return for the time I've owned it. I bought PGN because I thought they had one of the safest dividends in the sector. I'm looking long term! Your time frame would determine what's best for you. If I were to buy additional utilities today, I think I would consider NGG and DPL. Both of these look to be better than what I own, but I'm not switching. I may add though with future dividends if price action is conducive to my goals. EXC seems to be a favorite for a lot of people as well. I suppose it depends on whether you want that nuclear exposure in your account. I'm agnostic. It wouldn't matter to me. I can only own so many stocks in any one sector. I own KMP, EPD, EPB and KMR in the pipelines. All have done very well for me! Very well! I owned MMP as well. I like them. My problem is that the MLP's have perfomed so well, they represented to large a position in portfolio. I had to bring it back down with regard to balance. So, I let MMP go only becuase my cap gains on them weren't as large as the others because I owned the others for a longer period of time. I was thinking taxwise here. KMP and KMR are related. I have KMR in an IRA because it doesn't pay dividends in cash, it pays in shares! There are tax consequences at some point if you place MLP's in a tax deferred account. I can't explain, I understand it. That advice will need to come from elsewhere. I can't imagine a dividend portfolio without Utes and Pipes. There should be a law ... you have to own them! <GGG>

To: SAM who wrote (5062)	7/7/2010 9:32:23 PM
From: Steve Felix	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 34328

Hi Sam. I'd like to throw out EGAS, a gas utility on a pullback here with the announcement of a public offering. Haven't seen a price yet. Monthly dividend payer. Book value $9+. Stock under $11. Current yield 4.9%. "Energy, Inc. Announces Filing of Registration Statement for Public Offering of Common Stock 5:08p ET June 29, 2010 (PR NewsWire) Energy, Inc. (NYSE Amex: EGAS) (the "Company"), a natural gas utility company serving approximately 62,000 customers in six states, announced today that is has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the public offering of up to 2,500,000 shares of its common stock, of which 1,500,000 shares will be sold by the Company and up to 1,000,000 shares will be sold by Energy, Inc.'s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Richard M. Osborne. The Company also intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 375,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the shares sold by the Company to expand its distribution systems as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes. The Company will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by Mr. Osborne." Last I saw Osborne owned 2.5 million shares. Mentioned in this Seeking Alpha article: seekingalpha.com Looks to me like their recent acquisitions have gone well: Energy, Inc. Reports 86.6% Increase in Net Income for First Quarter of 2010 6:55a ET May 17, 2010 (PR NewsWire) Energy, Inc. (NYSE Amex: EGAS), a natural gas utility company serving approximately 62,000 customers in six states, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. Reported results include the acquisitions of the parent companies of Orwell Natural Gas Company and Northeast Ohio Natural Gas Corp. (NEO), and Brainard Gas Corp., as well as Great Plains Land Development, LTD. (GPL), which Energy, Inc. completed on January 5, 2010. First Quarter 2010 Consolidated Financial Results Consolidated net income for the first quarter was $3.7 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.0 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the same period in 2009. Earnings growth was driven by strengthened operating performance and customer additions in the Company's utilities in Maine and North Carolina combined with the acquisition of the Ohio utilities. Net income improved to 10.5% of operating revenues in the 2010 first quarter from 6.3% in the same period the prior year. Operating income was $6.3 million for the 2010 first quarter, up $2.8 million, or 78%. Approximately $2.3 million of the increase was related to the Ohio utilities acquisition. Richard M. Osborne, Energy, Inc.'s chairman and chief executive officer, commented, "The results reflect our success at generating improved returns in our organic operations, expanding our customer base and the completion of the acquisition of the Ohio utilities. We believe we can continue to expand our earnings power and grow our customer base by focusing on earning fair returns in our utility operations, allocating our capital where we can capture the best returns and continuing to selectively acquire utilities that would benefit from our operational strength."

To: SAM who wrote (5062)	7/7/2010 10:09:55 PM
From: Steve Felix	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34328

A fresh MLP article. MLPs Offering Inflation Protection and Income Wednesday July 7, 2010, 12:30 pm EDT Although interest rates and fears about inflation subsided during the most recent correction, investors should be aware of the looming inflation risks down the road, according to Mike Finnegan, CIO of Principal Funds and manager of the Principal Diversified Real Asset Fund. In a press release last month, Finnegan noted, "We look at inflation risk as an ever-present risk that all investors should take into consideration." According to the report, real assets offer a vehicle investors can use to hedge against inflation and manage risk. While there are plenty of hard asset alternatives, income oriented investors may find that MLPs fit the bill, offering both high-yields, and partial energy exposure, thus providing inflation protection and income. As a whole, the MLPs Index is ahead by more than 1% for the session. Though the Index is moving up the same amount as the broader market today, over the past month MLPs have outperformed the S&P by better than 8%. Because of the diversity of MLPs available, investors need to make sure they understand what they are buying into. For instance, pipeline MLPs collect income by transporting and storing oil and gas. In essence they act as toll takers, charging to move commodities through the pipeline. In many cases the rate charged is linked to the producer price index (PPI), giving them a solid tie to inflation while also providing protection against energy prices, since companies will need to transport oil no matter what happens to the price. Pipelines tend to trade at a higher premium than others in the industry because of their relative stability, but natural gas pipeline Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (NYSE: BWP - News) still yields nearly 7%. Diversified pipelines like Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD - News) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP - News) also pay large dividends, both sporting over 6% annual payouts. Another MLP in the space to consider is Genesis Energy (AMEX: GEL - News). The firm currently yields 8%, but it has a track record of consistently raising dividends, including the most recent quarterly distribution. Investors searching for securities that are more directly linked to energy can look to energy producers like Legacy Reserves (NASDAQ: LGCY - News) and EV Energy Partners (NASDAQ: EVEP - News). Both sport 9% yields, but are more volatile, given that they are exploration and production plays. And a total of 12 Pro investors counted energy producer Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE - News) in their top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings at the start of Q2, giving them nearly 10% in annual dividends. finance.yahoo.com

To: SAM who wrote (5062)	7/7/2010 10:46:07 PM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 34328

SAM: You don't seem to own any individual utility stocks yet. If starting out looking to buy individual utility stocks, I'd start by considering shares of my local gas/water/electric utility companies. As I've mentioned before, by going local a person would have local news available to keep tabs on the company (companies). Plus, I suspect there's some satisfaction in getting a quarterly dividend check FROM them after having to write THEM a check every month (or otherwise somehow paying them). Alternatively, it seems to me most USA gas and/or electric utility stocks are correlated -- they move up together (mostly) and down together. Today for example I don't see one that is not green (up). Some will move up more than others percentage-wise and some will sport a higher dividend yield than others. It's almost though - almost - as if you just picked any couple/three of gas and/or electric, and they'll do just as well as any others. Having that perception or attitude, I'd just go for a few that are trading closer to their yearly lows, rather than their highs. Three to look at maybe, might be POR, CPK, PPL. (I have positions in these, as well as several -- many -- others.) My favorite way to play lp's is through the Tortoise funds. Specifically, TYN, TPZ. Perhaps you might already be covered well-enough though if, as you say, you hold the Alerian MLP Index ETN (AMJ). My most recent individual new mlp buy is BBEP. I bought because I like the 10% distribution, and I hope it holds up. For water utilities --- these don't get too much attention here, but they are utilities with good characteristics for ltb&h investors - my fav. is AWK. I continue to add to my position if/as the stock falls. I consider it a value stock (jmo) because it trades under its stated book value, and other water utilities (that I'm familiar with) do not. I also like European utilities. They're beat down possibly because of worries over the European economy and/or the possible breakdown of the Euro. I favor Italian-based ENLAY.pk and German-based EONGY.pk. I hold positions in these, and am intending to add if/as the stocks drop on no adverse news. I mention these, but I won't recommend these for you (or anyone else). Because, even though they're giant utilities with global operations, these two stocks can be volatile and the companies maybe even in a dangerous situation, given the presumed overextended European economy and/or currency. Fwiw, I have iShares S&P Global Utilities (JXI) on my watch list. For some reason, I've never been able to get myself up to either buy it or dismiss it. Good luck in your search.

To: SAM who wrote (5062)	7/8/2010 1:58:44 PM
From: JimisJim	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34328

All of the previous suggestions are good, IMO... I'd also mention EPB as a pipeline LP... Jim

To: SAM who wrote (5062)	7/8/2010 2:56:39 PM
From: Max Fletcher	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34328

Sam - for MLPs I would browse the board over at Investor's Village (no charge). There are a number of professionals and very knowledgeable folks there, and tons of great info. Check out 2 posts in particular: #11466 where a long-timer posted his reco's for Newbies, and #11688 where a guy named jaz posted his favorites. Jaz is a professional broker concentrating in MLPs since the early 90s I believe. investorvillage.com I think the core mainstream pipeline companies would include EPD (many folks #1 pick) and also ETP, PAA, MMP, OKS. Keep in mind the k1 issue when investing in MLPs (that said they are a great space to be in IMO). For utilities I would consider NGG, D, SO in addition to some of the ideas mentioned here by others. Good luck, Max