Month: August 2018

This week, Midstream stocks were little changed and basically kept pace with the S&P 500, which hit a new all-time high for the first time since January.  Midstream stocks didn’t get additional lift from the first positive week for oil prices in two months, but it certainly didn’t hurt.  Trading volume was light across midstream, with a few exceptions, and should be even lighter next week.

The string of successive positive weeks for midstream ended this week, Midstream stocks were down roughly 1% across MLP and midstream indexes. Canadian Midstream stocks outperformed for the first time in a while. Utilities had a very strong week and the S&P was slightly positive. Oil prices continue to languish, now down 7 straight weeks, while natural gas prices continue to hold firm.

Midstream traded up for a 6th straight week, with MLPs again out front with a 2.2% total return.  The MLP Index’s YTD total return is now nearly 12% after being negative less than a month ago.  The broad market struggled a bit, and midstream was a safe place to hide on Friday when the broad market sold off on Turkey’s currency plunge.

Midstream made gains for a 5th straight week, again led by MLPs.  It was the best week for the MLP Index since January 2017.   Good vibes and momentum carried through from last week with strong results from EPD, OKE and ENB among others, punctuated by the earlier than expected ETE/ETP simplification.  After this week’s move, the MLP Index has produced total return of 11.3% since June 25th.