EUROPE’S ENERGY CRISIS IS KEEPING ENERGY PRICES AND INFLATION HIGH

America leads the world in oil and gas production. We believe midstream energy infrastructure offers predictable cash flows to investors..

Why Flying is Getting More Expensive

I was struck today by an article in the New York Times (“On Jammed Jets, Sardines Turn on One Another”). As airlines pack more people onto planes, the flying experience (as least in Economy Class) becomes ever worse. This was hardly news to anyone who has flown domestically in the U.S. in recent years. Airlines […]

Two Kinds of Insider

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook (FB) and Rich Kinder, CEO of Kinder Morgan (KMI) would appear to have little in common (though they are both billionaires). However, they share one thing in common in that both recently made transactions in their own stock. FB has ‘A’ and ‘B’  shares, whose rights are identical other than […]

An Activist Chooses an MLP

We’ve written before about the benefits of being the General Partner (GP) in a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) rather than a Limited Partner (LP). MLPs are a great asset class; the more stable, midstream businesses that invest in energy infrastructure operate a toll-type of business model with fairly predictable cashflows. Their 5-6% distribution yields are […]

These Two Deserve One Another

Aubrey McLendon is the former CEO of Chesapeake Energy (CHK). He’s a swing-for-the-fences kind of CEO; he almost bankrupted himself with leveraged holdings of his company’s stock when it plunged in 2008. In 2011 Forbes named him America’s most reckless billionaire. He famously negotiated a sweetheart deal allowing him  to personally invest in individual wells […]

Too Many Quant Hedge Funds

The Economist turned its critical eye at quantitative hedge funds recently, noting the poor performance of such “black box” strategies since the 2008 Financial Crisis. The article’s headline (“Computer Says No”) is a wry reference to a British sitcom called Little Britain, a humorous touch that will have been missed by many U.S. readers. Quant […]