Last week was another strong one for the real-money Inflation-Protected Income Growth portfolio. The portfolio's value improved by a touch over $665 last week, to end the week above $34,000. For a portfolio that started in December with $30,000, reaching a better than 13% return in five months would ordinarily be something to celebrate.
In reality, though, that performance had a lot of help. Over the life to date of the iPIG, the S&P 500 has actually risen a bit faster, up a bit more than 14%. The iPIG portfolio's stellar performance owes a lot to that general market tailwind. Still, a fundamental truth about the market is that to get any of the returns from investing, your money has to be at risk and invested. And from that perspective, the iPIG portfolio has been incredibly successful.
Built on a solid foundation
While many of the iPIG portfolio's gains were aided by the market's meteoric rise, each investment in the portfolio was a calculated choice based on principles first laid out nearly a century ago. Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing and the man who taught investing to Warren Buffett, laid out those key themes in a book called The Intelligent Investor.
Top Medical Companies To Watch For 2015: BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P.(BBEP)
BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P. engages in the acquisition, exploitation, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States. The company?s properties include natural gas, oil, and midstream assets comprising fields in the Antrim Shale in Michigan, and the New Albany Shale in Indiana and Kentucky; and fields in the Evanston and Green River basins in southwestern Wyoming, the Wind river and Big Horn basins in central Wyoming, the Powder River basin in eastern Wyoming, the Los Angeles basin in California, and fields in Florida?s Sunniland Trend. As of December 31, 2011, its total estimated proved reserves were 151.1 million barrels of oil equivalent. BreitBurn GP, LLC serves as the general partner to the company. BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tyler Crowe]
If you're looking for income investments, then it's awfully hard to argue with the massive distribution payments from LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE ) (NASDAQ: LNCO ) , Breitburn Energy Partners (NASDAQ: BBEP ) , and Vanguard Natural Resources (NASDAQ: VNR ) . Thing is, though, income investments need both a decent yield and a level of certainty that it will keep that distribution going for many years to come. Other than being high-yielding investments, they are also all master limited partnerships, which means you need to look beyond just the operations to see how these companies will stand the test of time.
- [By Matt DiLallo]
The first quarter is a notoriously slow one for the oil and gas industry, because the weather really does play a factor. However, the weather this past quarter was worse than most energy companies were expecting. BreitBurn Energy Partners (NASDAQ: BBEP ) COO Mark Pease pointed to this fact in his remarks on the company's conference call. In talking about its production in Wyoming, he said that lower production at its gas wells was "primarily due to the harsh winter�weather, which increased downtime compared to forecast." He went on to say that the company "typically experienced lower production in the first half of the year for our operations in states with winter�weather�conditions." He continued: "Because of the additional cost of working in the winter season, drilling activity was relatively slow." One thing�was clear in the quarter: While bad weather was anticipated, the weather was worse than anyone projected.�
- [By Daniel Gibbs]
One investment vehicle that any investor interested in income should be familiar with is the master limited partnership, or MLP, as they�are some of the best income investments available today. Most master limited partnerships are in the business of owning and operating oil and gas pipelines such as Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP ) or Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP ) . However, there are some MLPs that actually operate oil and gas wells such as Breitburn Energy Partners (NASDAQ: BBEP ) and Mid-Con Energy Partners (NASDAQ: MCEP ) . In this article, we will discuss how these investments work and why they deserve a place in your income portfolio.
5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2014: PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II(PFN)
PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It invests in securities of companies operating across the diversified sectors. The fund invests in floating-rate debt instruments primarily high-yield senior floating-rate loans. It employs fundamental analysis with top-down approach to create its portfolio. The fund conducts an in-house research to make its investments. It was formerly known as PIMCO Floating Rate Strategy Fund. PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II was formed on June 30, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Gerard Lewis]
Pimco Income Strategy II Fund (PFN) - 15% Allocation
Pimco has a mind-boggling number of fixed-income offerings, all, at least by reputation, influenced by the philosophies of legendary "bond king" Bill Gross. PFN is the pick here, though, because it yields about 9.5% while selling at roughly 2% below NAV. And it's personally managed by Mr. Gross.
5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2014: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)
Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anna Prior]
Medical device company Thoratec Corp.(THOR) has purchased Apica Cardiovascular Ltd., in a deal that includes $35 million in cash upfront and potential milestone payments of up to $40 million.
5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2014: Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc (HTGC)
Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (HTGC), incorporated on December 18, 2003, is an internally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment company. The Company is a specialty finance company focused on providing senior secured loans to venture capital-backed companies in technology-related markets, including technology, biotechnology, life science, and clean-technology industries at all stages of development. The Company's investment objective is to maximize the Company's portfolio total return by generating current income from its debt investments and capital appreciation from its equity-related investments. The Company invests primarily in structured debt with warrants and, to a lesser extent, in senior debt and equity investments. The Company also makes investments in qualifying small businesses through two wholly-owned, small business investment company (SBIC) subsidiaries, Hercules Technology II, L.P. (HT II) and Hercules Technology III, L.P. (HT III).
The Company focuses its investments in companies active in the technology industry sub-sectors characterized by products or services that requires advanced technologies, including, but not limited to, computer software and hardware, networking systems, semiconductors, semiconductor capital equipment, information technology infrastructure or services, Internet consumer and business services, telecommunications, telecommunications equipment, renewable or alternative energy, media and life science. Within the life science sub-sector, the Company generally focuses on medical devices, bio-pharmaceutical, drug discovery, drug delivery, health care services and information systems companies. Within the clean technology sub-sector, the Company focuses on sustainable and renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency and monitoring technologies. The Company refers to all of these companies as technology-related companies and intend, under normal circumstances, to invest at least 80% of the value of its assets in such businesses. Advisors' Opinion:
- [By Bryan Perry]
My first BDC recommendation for you is Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC). Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Hercules is a leading specialty finance company that provides venture debt and equity to venture capital and private equity-backed technology and life-science companies.
- [By James Brumley]
So why did MRLN stock get cut nearly in half earlier in the year even though other small-cap stocks didn’t? Good question — the answer still isn’t clear. That may be why shares have finally perked up the last couple of weeks. The recovery may also have something to do with the fact that the forward-looking P/E of 12 for a steady-Eddie grower like Marlin Business is a bargain.
Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC)Ever wanted to invest in small caps that aren’t publicly-traded? Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC) is one way of doing so.
No comments:
Post a Comment