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Master limited partnerships offer daily liquidity, simplified tax reporting, and in some cases, the transformation of unrelated business taxable income to other income. This paper examines not only the benefits but also the implications and costs of master limited partnerships to help individuals make informed investment decisions.

Until a few years ago, gas prices rose when oil prices increased and fell during times of ample oil supply. However, natural gas is no longer following the usual pattern, due to an abundance of gas resulting from new technologies. Investors who think the gas-oil price link still exists may find themselves making costly mistakes.

The key to identifying the status of any insurance contract is consistent, periodic review with a comparison to the original model, the last review and current market benchmarks. This systematic approach will show the impact of reductions or increases in the crediting rate, in policy charges and of the position of the product itself in the market.

An annual inventory of belongings in the home is vital as a safeguard, should loss occur. Yet many families ignore this need. Some inventory options include hiring a firm that specializes in this, going room by room with a movie camera, and keeping a photo log of items. Make sure fine art, jewelry and silver are scheduled on a personal property pol...

Inflation in emerging economies will remain a concern in the near term but could peak much sooner than expected as tighter monetary policies take hold. The rise in input costs around the globe could potentially impact profit margins; however, low wage growth, positive operating leverage and modest pricing power likely will buffer the downside in mo...

If the private sector cannot stand on its own legs on June 30, when the second round of quantitative easing is expected to end, the QE policies will have been a colossal flop. Bond yields and stock prices are resting on an artificial foundation of QE II credit that may or may not lead to a successful private market hand-off and stability in the cur...

We recommend a baseline allocation in our asset allocations in terms of stocks versus bonds and cash, but we also recommend the following tactical allocations: leveraged loans within the bond allocation, dividend-focused stocks within the U.S. large-cap stock allocation, and an allocation of 55% value and 45% growth within U.S. large-cap equities.

The combination of an enhanced European-level policy response, fiscal austerity and structural reform at the national level, plus a more broad-based and secure economic recovery, should bring normalization to the Euro-area sovereign debt crisis by 2012. But if one or more of these expectations is not realized, the crisis may intensify.

Multiple constraints limit the use of leverage, the nature of the assets that can be leveraged and the acceptable levels of total portfolio and asset-specific risks. These constraints can make leverage efficient for only a narrow set of portfolios. Leverage is also subject to concerns such as unanticipated capital calls and illiquidity spirals.

Whole life and universal life insurance have been hit especially hard by continued low interest rates. As a result, carriers are introducing products that increasingly shift the risk of future product performance to the consumer. Because of these risks, consumers must make the effort to understand what is behind the assumptions presented by insurer...

President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 includes a reduction in the real estate exemption, a minimum 10-year term for new GRATs, and restrictions on valuing family-controlled entities as well as higher tax rates and reduced savings from itemized deductions for higher-income individuals.

This paper addresses a planning technique designed to allow taxpayers to take advantage of the increased exemptions available for the next two years while maintaining some control over the ultimate disposition of wealth.

The change in market psychology since the 2010 elections and the passage of year-end legislation to renew the Bush administration tax cuts should continue setting a positive tone for financial markets in 2011. We expect an expanding domestic economy, coupled with continued dynamism in the developing world, to set equity markets up for continued gai...

Municipal securities continue to provide yields in excess of Treasuries, despite their tax-favored status. For tax-exempt accounts, we continue to see opportunities in corporate debt, both investment grade and the highest quality non-investment grade, as well as in select international sovereign debt issues.

We recently have taken an increasing interest in housing and housing-related investment opportunities. While we cannot state with certainty when the recovery will come, we see a road towards redemption and investment opportunities while the market gradually improves.