MLPs– Master Limited Partnerships– are back in style. Born in the 80s to incent investment in domestic energy infrastructure, Congress showered them with impressive tax benefits. Like their contemporaries, acid washed jeans and Swatches, they were forgotten for a while, but are du jour again…. Read More
Inflation Hedges That Pay Today
by • May 17, 2013
This piece originally appeared on Forbes.com. The globe is awash in cash. The Fed’s adds $85 billion a month of new liquidity to our system, but even its herculean efforts will be outdone by the Bank of Japan. Negative real interest rates are common. And it seems as if any respectable corporation has scores of… Read More
Hunting Big Game (And Gains)
by • May 16, 2013
This piece originally appeared on Forbes.com. When people hear “hedge fund” or “alternative investments,” many conjure up exotic strategies aimed at amazingly high returns. Well, as Sportin’ Life sang, it ain’t necessarily so. As discussed in earlier columns, some alternatives aim for higher current income; others, to avoid losses; and as we’ll see tomorrow, many… Read More
Play It As A Recovery Or A Bubble? Both.
by • May 15, 2013
This piece originally appeared on Forbes.com. Recovery or bubble? Stock and housing prices are rising, but the real economy refuses to play along. The Fed’s history-making liquidity gambit may have induced a impressive revival … or a false spring that merely delays the true reckoning for decades of too much debt. Which is it? I… Read More
Finding Yield In Alternatives
by • May 15, 2013
This article originally appeared as part of Bob’s alternative investing column on Forbes.com. The best known income “alternative” class is MLPs, master limited partnerships. There are many flavors, but the “midstream” variety is most popular; these own the infrastructure assets used to get and transport oil and gas, rather than the commodities themselves (which makes… Read More
Sensible Alternatives For More Income… And 3 Other Portfolio Jobs
by • May 13, 2013
This article originally appeared on Forbes.com. Alternatives are probably the most poorly understood corner of the investing universe. That’s too bad, because they can deliver just what investors need most right now: higher current income. But they can also provide inflation protection, cushion the (inevitable) next market downturn, and stretch return singles into extra base hits…. Read More