Canadian Royalty Trusts or “CanRoys” are similar in structure and tax treatment to master limited partnerships in the US.  Like MLPs, they typically have high yields and are exempt from paying taxes at the corporate level.  Unfortunately for investors, the Canadian government has decided to put an end to the corporate tax exemption in 2011 [...]

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As we saw in our last post, Distributable Cash Flow is the amount of cash an MLP could pay out to investors in a given period.  However, a well managed business balances future cash requirements with giving investors a return on investment today.  As a result, not all DCF is paid out to unitholders – [...]

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When evaluating the performance of a business, one of the first things you want to know is how profitable it is.  From an accounting standpoint profit is a more complex calculation than simply taking revenue and subtracting operating costs.  Items such as depreciation and amortization attempt to capture the loss in value over time of [...]

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The acronyms ‘MLP’ and ‘PTP’ are frequently used interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference.  A Master Limited Partnership (MLP) is technically just a business structure legally recognized in the tax code (it is not necessarily a publicly traded entity).  A Publicly Traded Partnership (PTP) is any partnership that is publicly traded like a stock [...]

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I often get asked about benchmarks for gauging MLP performance (similar to the S&P 500 for the broader equity market).  The de facto standard is the Alerian MLP Index which tracks 50 of the largest master limited partnerships in the energy industry.  Performance data is available under the NYSE ticker AMZ and AMZX (tracks combined [...]

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As millions of barrels of oil continue to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. is beginning to look at viable alternatives to offshore drilling.  This is a good thing for infrastructure MLPs, because  the logical choice is to increase the use of natural gas as an energy source.  More gas demand means more [...]

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As investors become increasingly aware of the higher yields offered by MLPs, financial institutions are pushing to offer more in the way of investment options.  Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are the latest investment vehicle to be offered in this space.  As reported by ETFtrends.com, two funds filed with the SEC in June to offer MLP [...]

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From time to time I like to post links to MLP investor information which I have found useful.  One site that seems to have a good deal of current info is the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships website.  In particular, the investor conference slides that they publish are a good way to stay updated [...]

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Everyone knows that the last several years have been rough for Wall Street.  The stock market weathered one of the worst recessions in U.S. history, leaving many investors discouraged and confused.  We witnessed the cataclysmic failure of longstanding financial institutions and the subsequent bailout of the banking system by the federal government.  What a nightmare.
MLP [...]

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The National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships has posted an excellent presentation which covers the basics of MLPs.  I encourage everyone to read this document, as it contains updated, important information related to investing in master limited partnerships.  You’ll find it an easy read and a fairly comprehensive piece of work (including good examples regarding [...]

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