Issues

The founder and former editor of Canadian Edge, MLP Profits and Utility Forecaster, Roger S. Conrad built a reputation for his in-depth analysis of dividend-paying equities. Now, Roger brings his expertise to Energy & Income Advisor, adding coverage of more than 70 Canadian energy stocks to the publication.

In his first contribution to Energy & Income Advisor, Roger examines the headwinds facing Canadian equities and reviews first-quarter results from the handful of names that have reported thus far. 

Former Canadian Edge subscribers should note that Roger will resume coverage of Canadian companies that aren’t connected to the energy patch in Capitalist Times, a generalist newsletter that he and Elliott will launch later this month. (Full-year subscribers to Energy & Income Advisor will receive a complimentary 12-month subscription to this twice-monthly publication.)

Investors have blown hot and cold toward the Niobrara Shale over the past several years, with a lack of takeaway capacity, uneven well results and elevated production costs offsetting the promise of an oil-weighted resource base. The huge successes achieved in the Bakken Shale and Eagle Ford Shale also overshadowed developments in Colorado.

But upstream operators have stayed the course and honed their production techniques to the point that the play is starting to shift from the exploratory stage to full-scale development. We highlight two of our favorite upstream operators in this play and a midstream name that expects to grow its payout by more than 33 percent this year.

We're also taking advantage of the market's recent strength to take profits on two Focus List winners that have achieved our price targets. 

The confluence of rising biofuel production and growing meat consumption in emerging markets continues to stress the world's shrinking supply of freshwater and arable land. In this issue, we analyze these trends at length and highlight three stocks that stand to benefit from these powerful secular growth trends.

At the same time, we revisit our investment thesis and outlook for every stock in our extensive Coverage Universe in advance of second-quarter earnings season--a meaty project, indeed.

With the S&P 500 flirting with a new all-time high in recent trading sessions, investors are sitting on some impressive profits. However, not every name within the energy patch have participated in the rally. Many oil and gas royalty trusts remain snake-bitten, with a massive downward revision to Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust's discounted net present value representing the latest blow to investor confidence in this security class. 

At the same time, formerly red-hot names that provide marine seismic services have taken a breather after rallying considerably in the past few years. We take a closer look at the near-term catalysts for this highly cyclical industry and evaluate whether the recent retrenchment in share prices represents an inflection point before another rally or a precursor to more downside.