Over the past week we’ve witnessed a negotiation of monumental incompetence. Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras successfully won a referendum rejecting bailout terms that were no longer on offer, presided over the subsequent freezing up of the economy as the banks were forced to close and finally agreed to worse terms than he and Greek voters had only just rejected. In most countries Tsipras would have been thrown out of office; in some he would have been overthrown by the military and imprisoned or worse. In Greece, the poor population is so punch-drunk from their economic depression they can barely grasp how poorly they’ve been led. It’s provided somewhat macabre viewing as the current crisis is resolved while setting the stage for the next one. As much as we may criticize our own elected leaders, the depths of governmental ineptitude can extend farther than most of us imagined elsewhere.

Greece has been a factor affecting financial markets of late, as have the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and the popping of the Chinese equity market bubble. It has most certainly been a period of macro concerns, with little fundamental news until recently to aid investors. Greece has been resolved as far as its ability to cause a financial shock; the deal with Iran looks as if it will lead to more oil supply while hopefully making the world marginally safer. Chinese equities continue to gyrate unpredictably. So it is that with two of these three concerns resolved for now in their market impact, investors can turn to corporate earnings to obtain a bottom-up view of their investments, having seen them buffeted of late by top-down developments.

Kinder Morgan (KMI) released their 2Q15 earnings on Wednesday. If you look through one of their investor presentations from six months ago, there’s not much difference between what they were saying in January and what they said on their earnings call. Earlier this year they projected dividends of $2 for 2015, and last week announced a 2Q15 quarterly dividend of $0.49, on track for $2. The company continues to target 10% annual dividend growth through 2020 which, when you stop to consider for a moment, is an uncommonly long forecast period that few companies match. Their backlog of projects also grew from $18.3BN in the prior quarter to $22.0BN, led by a $3.3BN planned investment in the North East Direct project (NED).

NED will eventually reduce the pipeline congestion that restricts the flow of natural gas to New England in the winter, something we wrote about in February (see Why Boston Pays High Prices For Electricity), thereby making greater use of domestic output in the Marcellus and Utica shale. Events in Greece, Iran and China don’t have much bearing on this project, but it’s investments like this one and many others that are expected to provide the growth in earnings to support KMI’s projected 10% dividend growth.

At its current stock price of $36.89, its $2 projected 2015 dividend yields 5.4%. It’s rarely wise to assume that sellers are anything other than intelligent, and certainly those who sold KMI at the time of their last earnings release in April when the stock was above $43 made a good trade, benefiting from the macro events cited above. Other macro factors may continue to dominate in the weeks ahead, but a 5.4% yield with 10% growth looks better than most investment opportunities out there.

We are long KMI.

Important Disclosures

The information provided is for informational purposes only and investors should determine for themselves whether a particular service, security or product is suitable for their investment needs. The information contained herein is not complete, may not be current, is subject to change, and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the more complete disclosures, risk factors and other terms that are contained in the disclosure, prospectus, and offering. Certain information herein has been obtained from third party sources and, although believed to be reliable, has not been independently verified and its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. No representation is made with respect to the accuracy,  completeness or timeliness of this information. Nothing provided on this site constitutes tax advice. Individuals should seek the advice of their own tax advisor for specific information regarding tax consequences of investments.  Investments in securities entail risk and are not suitable for all investors. This site is not a recommendation nor an offer to sell (or solicitation of an offer to buy) securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction.

References to indexes and benchmarks are hypothetical illustrations of aggregate returns and do not reflect the performance of any actual investment. Investors cannot invest in an index and do not reflect the deduction of the advisor’s fees or other trading expenses. There can be no assurance that current investments will be profitable. Actual realized returns will depend on, among other factors, the value of assets and market conditions at the time of disposition, any related transaction costs, and the timing of the purchase. Indexes and benchmarks may not directly correlate or only partially relate to portfolios managed by SL Advisors as they have different underlying investments and may use different strategies or have different objectives than portfolios managed by SL Advisors (e.g. The Alerian index is a group MLP securities in the oil and gas industries. Portfolios may not include the same investments that are included in the Alerian Index. The S & P Index does not directly relate to investment strategies managed by SL Advisers.)

This site may contain forward-looking statements relating to the objectives, opportunities, and the future performance of the U.S. market generally. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as; “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “estimated,” “potential” and other similar terms. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, estimates with respect to financial condition, results of operations, and success or lack of success of any particular investment strategy. All are subject to various factors, including, but not limited to general and local economic conditions, changing levels of competition within certain industries and markets, changes in interest rates, changes in legislation or regulation, and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technological factors affecting a portfolio’s operations that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results. Such statements are forward-looking in nature and involves a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or examples. None of SL Advisors LLC or any of its affiliates or principals nor any other individual or entity assumes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, subsequent events or any other circumstances. All statements made herein speak only as of the date that they were made. r

Certain hyperlinks or referenced websites on the Site, if any, are for your convenience and forward you to third parties’ websites, which generally are recognized by their top level domain name. Any descriptions of, references to, or links to other products, publications or services does not constitute an endorsement, authorization, sponsorship by or affiliation with SL Advisors LLC with respect to any linked site or its sponsor, unless expressly stated by SL Advisors LLC. Any such information, products or sites have not necessarily been reviewed by SL Advisors LLC and are provided or maintained by third parties over whom SL Advisors LLC exercise no control. SL Advisors LLC expressly disclaim any responsibility for the content, the accuracy of the information, and/or quality of products or services provided by or advertised on these third-party sites.

All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will be suitable or profitable for a client’s investment portfolio.

Past performance of the American Energy Independence Index is not indicative of future returns.