Valero Lp Lowers Earnings Outlook For Q4 And '07 Q1...citigroup On The Horn This Morning...and More!

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Valero Lp Lowers Earnings Outlook For Q4 And '07 Q1...citigroup On The Horn This Morning...and More!

Posted on 12/13/2006 04:35 AM | Link | Post Comment

Busy morning to start this Wednesday as we have after hours news on Valero LP (VLI)and Valero GP(VEH). First off on the GP the secondary offering began last night...17 million shares being offered...again to remind you non dilutive. 4 million shares have already been placed to the GP president. Valero LP (VLI) is lowering earnings guidance for the first quarter of 2007 due to continued problems with re-starts and turnarounds.

On the horn this morning is Citigroup as it shuffles around some ratings on the propane LP's It is upgrading Amerigas (APU) from a sell to a hold....downgrades Ferrellgas LP(FGP) to sell from hold..and it cuts Suburban Propane(SPH) to hold from buy. On Ferrellgas Citigroup says they downgraded the stock because the company has not grown the distribution in 10 years (so they wait until now to downgrade when they could have put their customers in other LP'S?) . The downgrade on Suburban is due to valuation. The Amerigas upgrade is because it says the company will be able to grow the distribution. Also Wachovia (pronounced WACH-OVER-YA in Brooklyn) starts new issue Eagle Rock Partners (EROC) at outperform.

On the "more" front we have a new ipot hat begins trading today which is Atlas Energy Resources (ATN) which priced at 21 bucks a share last night which was at the top of the range. This one could have a pop at the open and we will watch carefully. It will only have 6 million shares floating around in public hands(17%) while Atlas America will hold on to the rest.

Oil markets are slightly lower this morning while natural gas is 17 cents higher. 10 year rates are lower this morning and stock futures are higher. So the backdrop this morning is okay. The Valero LP announcement will have some impact on the mlp index since it has nearly a 4% weighting. Also Crosstex LP (XTEX) broke back above the 39 level on the close yesterday up 1 and change on the day and we'll be looking for followthrough here. 42 on volume would mean an upside breakout for this one which has been moving sideways for a long time now.