bear_mkt

The Nine Best Natural Gas, Oil Pipelines for Income and Capital Gains

Don't forget state taxes if you get a K-1. You may owe state income taxes in states where the partnership does business and you may be required to file a state 1040-NR on your non-resident income.

I constantly read on the message boards how high and wonderful partnership yields are. I rarely see any mention of the added tax burden. For the Average Honest Joe the added cost of tax preparation (federal and multi-state paperwork) can eat into that high yield.

Of course you could gamble and not pay tax on the teeny-weenie dividend allocated to each state. However, in a computerized era, it's easy for the states to spear fish in the barrel and collect some decent penalties from non-filers.

Investment sentiment: long on tax accountants.

Greenlight Capital: Cautious over Q2

Thanks for the article. A really nice summary!

UNG Trading 101

Bravo. The 4 trading rules are very good and will help assure the long term survival of the average investor. Strict asset allocation saved my skin in 2008 and 2009, although it drew a lot of jeers from message board posters who preached 100% stock plus maximum leverage.

The rule about maximum position limits is good for the average investor, too. I read a book on the "secrets of Warren Buffet and George Soros." It advised making huge bets on perceived "winners" as the road to untold wealth. I suspect the real-world outcome of that advice is 1 or 2 more Soros/Buffets in the world and a large number of retirees visiting the local soup kitchen. But that's just my opinion.

Paragon Shipping Financial Gauge Analysis for June 2009 Quarter

Thanks for your analysis!

A&P's Fruitcake Strategy

- They don't own 8 O'Clock anymore - so why should they promote it? - that's no reason to object to Starbuck's.

-The WEO slogan was not "We Owe You" - it was "Where Economy Originates"

Some of the A&P's issues through the 70's were due to (1) its operating under an antitrust decree which prohibited it getting the lowest prices due to its size and (2) A&P being controlled by a foundation which bled it for dividends.

Things improved under the Germans, but please give the British credit. James Wood and his team did the turnaround, with a little help from an over-funded employee pension account.

After Wood left, senior management was a revolving door. (A&P was once described as having "more entrances and exits than a Broadway play.")

In the more recent past, A&P paid out a huge dividend after the sale of its Canadian operatiions instead of retaining it in the business.

As for their current operations, I can't comment. The stores are clean and nicely designed, but I don't shop in stores where the lighting over the produce is so bad I can't see what I'm buying.

I'm at Shop-Rite for price, an independent for quality produce, and Trader Joe's for great prices on great items. Just my opinion.

10 Key Asset ETFs: 2008 Review

Thanks, very useful. Presents a clear and uncluttered summary of asset class performance for 2008.

Newspapers: Any Options Beyond Cutting, Selling or Closing?

There are few papers I go out of the way to buy anymore. Sorry about your business model Mr Big Publisher, but when my 3-paper a day habit met your last price hike, I found I could get enough news on the web. (saving $4.50/day: The Journal, $2, the Times, $1.50, The Sun $1.00, In Memoriam - great Arts coverage and cave-man editorial politics.)

I read Tri-Ciy News everytime I go to the Shore. It's got bright and irreverent content and good "get you mad" investigative reporting. It's at its best at focusing on Asbury when the City is doing stupid things like suddenly installing weird parking meters in mid-Summer or wanting to tear down historic buildings to turn funky Asbury into a bland Sunbelt-type suburb.

While it is annoying that I can't read Tr-City on the internet, I sure do look for it when I head to the beach. I do read the ads, too, so I guess their business model is working.

I couldn't see TriCity's local-ad based free-paper model working for larger papers with big overhead for plant and equipment and the need to cover national and local stories and sports. Especially where national retailers like WalMart or Sears can move their ads out of the papers and onto their websites. High fixed costs, rigid union work rules, expensive newsprint and declining revenues from display ads or classifieds don't work.

I guess the other viable business model is out of the magazine area. The Economist charges relatively high subscription rates, discounts less than the competition and has a smaller staff than comparable publications. Don't know that it would work for daily newspapers, except the Wall Street Journal.

Bank Stocks Still Showing Geographic Disparities

The BarChart site is new to me. It has a lot of interesting information. Thanks for mentioning it.

The Complete List of Commodity ETFs and ETNs

Thank you. Nice to see these listed in one place.

Dispelling the Gloom: Examining a Few Healthy Companies

Diverse list of choices. Big Lots has the advantage of not ever getting mentioned by the press when they talk about discounters in a tough retail market. (WalMart holds that honor.) Since BIG is undiscovered by the business press, there's some publicity upside left.

BIG is also a play on a change of administration. A post-election stimulus plan could benefit BIG. Also, there's a large short position in BIG. A change in the White House could mean that the laws against naked short selling may finally be enforced by the SEC.

Agco is another wall-flower. It never gets as much publicity as the more US-oriented Deere. A lot of AG's operations are overseas, which I like. That adds growth potential and international currency diversification (and some considerable risk in this market) to a portfolio.

Total Returns by Country Since March 2003

Bespoke needs to go over to Gannett and hire an out-of-work copy editor to edit its copy. This is poorly written.

What's being compared to what here? If the "MSCI World Index Local Currency" index is up 68%, how come the 22 listed components are up far more than 68% on a "total return" basis? Isn't this perhaps a story on currency inflation?

Fill in the gap in the logic here, I am not a mind reader.

AGCO: Combines May Be The Story in 2008

Hey Andy, thanks for the link to the author's portfolio performance, but lighten up. Its just his opinion.

Nobody should buy anything based on a Seeking Alpha post (or a Barrons, Cramer, WSJ, Forbes, Merrill, Goldman or other report/ recommendation) or a gushy press release from corporate management, without doing his/her own due diligence. However, all these sources are good places to pick up ideas to research. Just my opinion.

AGCO: Combines May Be The Story in 2008

Good article. AG is the proverbial "Rodney Dangerfield" of the farm equipment sector. It "gets no respect." Big brother DE, with its big US presence, seems to get the good press play.

I like AG for a several reasons. AG's got good international diversification. AG's more of a pure play on farm equipment. I see a lot of DE logos on construction equipment around here. Construction will be weak for a while. Advantage, AG.

Even with recent price swings, grain prices will likely remain above prior years level, giving farmers plenty of incentives, and cash, to buy equipment. IMHO, AG's a good place to be in the farm sector. As with any ag-stock, the ride will be bumpy.

Which of the 6 Agriculture ETFs is Best?

Great summary, Matthew. To BrucePile -- ETF vs. ETN simply: an ETF holds "things" such as gold or contracts, an ETN is a promise to pay. So, Bruce, you are right, an ETN is a debt instrument and you do have a credit risk in addition to a commodity risk. One more item to note: There have been recent IRS changes in the tax treament of ETNs, such as Barclay Bank's single currency ETNs. Once you decide where you want to invest, you should look at the tax implications of ETNs. Just my opinion.