Investing Topics: Value Investing

The uncertainty surrounding the cross-border leg of TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL pipeline hasn't diminished the company's growth prospects. We examine the investment opportunities behind the controversy.

Not every buy and hold investor has the savvy and steady temperament to be as successful as Warren Buffett. Similarly, not every short seller is insightful and nimble enough to match Jim Chanos’ storied success.

In 2013, the Alerian MLP Index gained 27.6 percent. Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP) did much better at 43.4 percent, thanks to restoring regular quarterly distribution increases.

As goes January, so goes the year. That old Wall Street adage doesn’t bode well for most of the stock market.

Wall Street’s January ritual is to roll out “new” investment strategies. This year, fund manager Bill Gross has proclaimed the end of a 30-year bull market for bonds. So it’s no great surprise income advisors further down the food chain are pushing investors to adjust portfolios for higher interest rates.

The Conrad’s Utility Investor Portfolios officially launched on July 31, 2013. Since that time, the Dow Jones Utility Average is off -2.3 percent, including dividends paid.

My Aggressive Income Portfolio is up by 9.3 percent, while the Conservative Income Portfolio has returned 3.3 percent.

US electric utilities have enthusiastically embraced renewable energy the past few years. That includes companies that have traditionally relied heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

Ready to lock up money for 54 years at just 3.4 percent annual interest? More than a few investors did this week when their funds bought Enterprise Products Partners’ (NYSE: EPD) 7.034 percent bonds maturing January 15, 2068, a barely investment grade BBB- credit.

Will the Federal Reserve really “taper” off its easy money policy? The stock market has already reacted, with dividend-paying stocks leading the selling: The Dow Jones Utility Average is now flat for the fourth quarter, after being up better than 5 percent through mid-November.

Shares of transmission line operator ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC) have dropped more than 14 percent from the all-time highs reached in early November. The immediate catalyst: A group of industrial users have demanded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission cut its allowed returns.