tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-198521592024-03-07T02:54:49.380-05:0010Q DetectiveInvestors often overlook SEC filings, and it is the job of the 10Q Detective to dig through businesses’ 8-K and 10-Q SEC filings, looking for financial statement ‘soft spots,'(depreciation policies, warranty reserves, and restructuring charges, etc.)that may materially impact Quality of Earnings.David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.comBlogger783125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-73114884867689940262016-11-30T17:41:00.000-05:002016-12-02T17:18:48.045-05:00How Secure is Ferrellgas Partners'18-Percent Yield?
One might infer that the market has already discounted Ferrellgas Partners (FGP-$5.55) reported $628.8 million asset write-down of its disastrous 2015 acquisition of Bridger Logistics (a provider of integrated crude oil midstream services), given the 70% slide in the propane provider's share price. Ergo, income seeking investors might be tempted to buy some shares yielding a juicy 18% (David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-15028465056688042692016-11-09T14:37:00.003-05:002016-11-09T14:53:12.834-05:00Viper Energy Shows How Not to Win Over New Shareholders
It's prudent that prospective shareholders invest time in due diligence before taking the plunge and purchasing shares or units in any company.
This investor had [past tense] a possible interest in becoming a stakeholder in Viper Energy Partners (VNOM). I had one question to ask of management about something I came across in my research: Oh, just a "little" issue regarding the current status David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-12007982608468236522016-05-26T02:35:00.003-04:002016-05-26T02:36:56.108-04:00Sell-Side Analysts Avoid the Tough Call on Oasis Petroleum - So What?
Looking for a job that can pay upwards of $400,000 a year – irrespective of proficiency? Consider a career as a Wall Street stock analyst.
On May 9, uBS analyst William Janela maintained his “Hold” rating on E&P Houston-based Oasis Petroleum (OAS) and set a price target of $9. The company’s shares closed at $9.46 on May 10.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brad Carpenter reiterated aDavid J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-89659060753489456432016-02-29T02:35:00.002-05:002016-02-29T15:12:55.596-05:00Management of Enable Midstream Puts Lipstick On a Pig
Rod Sailor, chief executive officer of Enable Misdtream Partners, LP (ENBL - $5.52) reminded analysts on the recent 4Q:15 earnings call that the owner/ operator of natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets retains an "investment grade rating."
Yes, the limited partnership has an attractive footprint in four of the most prominent natural gas and crude oil producing basins in the David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-4984142463748798282016-01-20T14:33:00.000-05:002016-01-20T14:42:22.450-05:00Stop the Presses! Benzinga's Got a Hot Story About WPX Energy
An example of the Fourth Estate’s trending indolence is found in a recent Benzinga business story.
Headline: WPX
Energy Crashed 25%
Shares of WPX Energy Inc (NYSE: WPX), a natural gas and oil exploration and production company, hit a new 52-week low of $2.53 after the company disclosed it has added more hedges to protect its cash flows.  David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-14803826331118141252016-01-14T21:11:00.002-05:002016-01-14T21:11:06.465-05:00The progress U.S. leadership has made in the world
“The world will look
to us to help solve these problems, and our answer needs to be more than tough
talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians. That may work as a TV sound bite, but
it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage.” President Barack Obama - 2016 State
of the Union Address
How do images of U.S.
Navy on their knees before their Iranian captors “work as a TV sound bite” to
the world, Mr.David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-90435974971158004932015-12-08T17:54:00.003-05:002015-12-08T17:54:21.240-05:00Wall Street Traders Doubt Legacy Reserves' Survival
The
markets continue to signal that energy MLP
Legacy Reserves (LGCY - $1.76) is on the brink – of a potential bankruptcy
filing: the price of common units have fallen more than 57% since 3Q earnings
release on November 5.
Chief executive
Paul Home – at least in public – continues to assuage analysts and investors
alike, emphasizing management’s combined experience in working throughDavid J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-718119733747527872015-11-14T01:28:00.001-05:002015-11-14T01:28:32.849-05:00How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West
"In the end, Europe's enemy is not Islam, or even radical Islam. Europe's enemy is itself—its self-destructive passivity, its softness toward tyranny, its reflexive inclination to appease, and its uncomprehending distaste for America's pride, courage, and resolve in the face of a deadly foe."
This prescient quote written 10 years ago speaks to what will lead to the Balkanization of David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-89774121898090440072015-09-17T14:43:00.000-04:002015-09-18T02:54:28.242-04:00More Lies from Magnum Hunter Resources?
The price
of Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR - $0.52)
soared more than 70% to $1.33 per share on August 10 when the Marcellus/Utica NG driller announced
intent to farm-out certain undeveloped and unproved oil and gas leasehold
acreage currently held by a wholly-owned subsidiary.
The
putative deal was to be structured so that cash-starved MHR would receive – in total
– an infusion up toDavid J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-77019036458255877552015-09-12T01:50:00.000-04:002015-09-12T02:16:53.719-04:00Does Magnum Hunter Resources Have a Winning Bid - or Not?
Management of Magnum
Hunter Resources ($0.67) said
on the August 5 earnings call that a decision on the Eureka Hunter pipeline
asset sale was "imminent."
Direct quote: "We've gotten three more bids now – or three total bids. We're expecting more
over the weekend and this week. And so we will pick a horse probably by the end
of the next week or at the latest the beginning of David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-8632794529989763142015-08-17T16:05:00.001-04:002015-08-17T16:14:08.885-04:00Looking at Southcross Energy's 21% Yield? Don't
At $7.50, the share price of Southcross
Energy Partners (SXE) offers a 21.3% dividend yield. Income investors who have
stopped to sniff around this midstream master limited partnership, however, might
want to pick up their piggy banks and keep walking.
The
majority of its revenue is derived from fixed-fee contracts, which have limited
direct exposure to commodity price levels. David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-73027355040132589442015-05-01T01:38:00.002-04:002015-05-01T01:39:16.620-04:00Looking for Value? Start with Truth-Telling at EXCO Resources
Wow!
How refreshing to witness a senior executive immune to the “Bullsh-t Syndrome”
(the commonplace corporate condition where imaginary events are
presented as fact). C. John Wilder, who recently joined EXCO Resources' (XCO - $2.05) Board of
Directors as Executive Chairman, had this to say on the Q1 earnings’ call about
challenges currently facing the natural gas producer amid low energy David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-37175102995973524362015-03-31T02:53:00.002-04:002015-03-31T02:55:21.285-04:00Oil Glut Doesnt Mean U.S. Running Out of Crude Storage Capacity
Although the U.S.
rig count has fallen dramatically, reaching the lowest level since April 2011,
domestic crude output continues to soar. At last count, total US crude stocks
stood at 468 million barrels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) report issued on March 13.
Seizing the
theme that petroleum production from conventional and shale deposits has yet to
show signsDavid J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-57578718353636415432015-03-17T03:48:00.002-04:002015-03-17T03:49:27.706-04:00Linn Energy's Price Decline to Accelerate
Attracted to Linn Energy’s (LINE-$10.93) turnaround potential (share price is off
62.5% from its 52-week high) and 11.2% payout ($1.25 dividend/share)? Think
again.
In only one of the last four years has LINE
been able to cover fixed charges, including dividend payments: Earnings were
insufficient to cover fixed charges by approximately $457 million and $696
million for the year ended 2014 David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-68732492441338434422015-02-20T16:44:00.004-05:002015-02-22T02:22:29.461-05:00EU Kicks Can on Greek Debt Down the Road -- Again
Eurozone finance ministers
demonstrated their continued lack of resolve by kicking the can down the road –
again: an agreement has been reached to extend
Greece's financial rescue by four months.
This action sends yet
another message that Europe (EU) lacks resolve: politically [Ukraine and the Islamist jihad problem] and economically [Greece].
The European Central Bank
David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-82909554586816777452015-02-18T19:55:00.000-05:002015-02-18T19:58:10.680-05:00Is Janet Yellen Too Chummy With Wall Street?
Is this bull market too dependent on "easy money" policies - QE?
Could it be that the
real reason that Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen is afraid to pull the trigger on
an interest
rate hike is that it would spook Wall Street? I don't want to start
"yellin" - but if the economy is as strong as Obama and his economic team likes to brag it
is - maybe it's time to start raising key rates?
David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-75373386405345264102015-02-06T01:57:00.000-05:002015-02-06T01:59:40.656-05:00Is Carly Fiorina Accomplished Enough for a White House Run?
Former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ-$$37.95)
CEO Carly Fiorina criticized preordained
2016 Democratic presidential contender Hillary
Clinton in prepared remarks at the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines last
month.
"Like
Hillary Clinton, I too have travelled hundreds of thousands of miles around the
globe. But unlike her, I have actually accomplished something," said
Fiorina. "Mrs. Clinton, flyingDavid J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-91599496193662611832015-02-03T17:04:00.002-05:002015-02-03T17:08:28.678-05:00Energy Stocks Surge on Expected Bottoming in Crude Prices
Nordic American Offshore (NAO-$11.11) management has repeatedly stated that the fundamentals
of its PSV (platform supply vessel) leasing business are “not directly exposed
to the price of oil to a significant extent.”
“The best liar is he who
makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.” ~ Victorian-era English
author Stephen Butler
The company announced a
$1.7 million loss in David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-48596368833605745262015-02-02T00:13:00.001-05:002015-02-02T00:13:27.594-05:00Finding Opportunity in Crude Oil's Bust - Part 3
Natural Resource Partners LP
(NRP-$9.39) is principally engaged in the
business of owning and managing mineral reserve properties. NRP primarily
owns coal, aggregate and oil and gas reserves across the United States that
generate royalty income for the partnership. The partnership does not actively engage in the mining of any
of its minerals or natural resources, but rather leases its David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-33665052055619158902015-02-02T00:01:00.002-05:002015-02-02T00:01:51.348-05:00Finding Opportunity in Crude Oil's Bust - Part 2
Evolution Petroleum Corp. (EPM-$7.51) is an E&P specializing in lower cost
secondary recovery efforts.
Debt-Free
Balance Sheet
2P
Reserves of 22.8 MMBOE (6/30/2014)
Development
plan: installation of recycle gas
processing to recover methane and NGLs, and water-flood with deferred future
CO2 injection in portion of Delhi recovery project. Secondary recovery efforts could add David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-27034792041648371032015-02-01T23:56:00.002-05:002015-02-01T23:56:34.901-05:00Finding Opportunity in Crude Oil's Bust - Part 1
Though the Energy
Information Administration (EIA) expects global oil inventories to continue to
build in 2015, the downward pressure on oil prices could ease mid-year. The EIA
projects that Brent prices will reach a 2015 monthly average low of $49/bbl in
January and February, and then increase through the remainder of the year to
average $67/bbl (during the fourth quarter).
As sliding David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-76654471584279983462015-01-14T03:47:00.002-05:002015-01-14T12:40:41.691-05:00Calling Saudi Arabia's Oil Bluff
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi keeps telling us that the world's top petroleum exporter is not going to cut production to prop up global oil markets: "We are not going to cut - If they (non-OPEC) want to cut production, they are welcome."
“It is not in the interest of OPEC producers to cut their production, whatever the price is,” he recently told the weekly newsletter Middle East David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-46934776040872967272014-10-09T23:56:00.001-04:002014-10-10T00:04:04.932-04:00Price Transparency Benefits Hospital Patients
Internet access has ushered in an era of price transparency, where shoppers wielding smartphones check prices before deciding where to buy items such as washing machines and flat-screen televisions. Could making price information readily available contribute to a reduction in certain health-care costs, too? Research suggests so.
To date, while some may suspect that price-transparency David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-51174759979459077312014-09-29T16:30:00.002-04:002014-10-09T23:56:56.146-04:00Watching Television for Allergy Relief
Looking to master the quiet sneeze or get relief from those
itchy, watery eyes? If so, consider watching television, at least long enough
to catch an allergy commercial. Research by Professor Emir Kamenica,
with Robert Naclerio of the Pritzker School of Medicine, and Anup Malani of the
University of Chicago Law School, suggests these advertisements may improve the
efficacy of drugs for David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19852159.post-14817295722181189852014-09-26T21:43:00.002-04:002014-09-26T21:44:27.734-04:00Can Conatus Pharmaceuticals Duplicate Intercept's Success?
Conatus Pharmaceuticals (CNAT-$6.03) is developing a first-in-class, orally active pan-caspase
protease inhibitor, called emricasan, which is designed to
reduce the activity of the caspase family of related enzymes that mediate
inflammation (measured as serum ALT) and cell death, or apoptosis (measured as
biomarker cCK18).
It is postulated that by inhibiting
hepatocyte apoptosis David J. Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01447096336527192686noreply@blogger.com0