Ford (F) lost almost $9B mostly on asset write-downs, down 40¢ (a lot for a $5 stock). Southwest airlines (LUV - love that symbol) reported higher sales & higher earnings from the sales increase & hedging oil. They remain under pressure from higher costs & cut back growth plans to 4% or less this year, stock slipped 28¢.
Master Limited Partnerships
MLPs are one of my favorite investments, let me explain them for newbies. They trade like stocks but are actually limited partnerships in pipeline businesses. These pipelines move oil & gas around the US, expanding this network is a national priority. Many of the units yield 8+% which is 80-90% tax-free. However there is a fair amount of tax hassle associated with distributions, the non-taxable portion is generally reduces cost basis plus you learn more about depletion. Annual tax statements are sent on March 15. However, tax package programs are supposed to handle these numbers well. They have an excellent track record, with or without reinvested distributions (see the Alerian MLP index based only on security prices below).
One year ago, the index maxed out at 342 followed by a sharp drop taking it under 300 from which it hasn't been able to recover. It has been trading sideways this year with a downward bias. Joe has an excellent blog on MLPs, limitedpartnerships.blogspot.com, if you want to follow them more closely. The long term outlook is excellent & high yields makes it easier to wait for higher markets. Today the index is down about 1 to 267 after a one day rally of 8 last week.
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