at current levels i think the energy trusts are a great buy. when i mentioned them last week they were yielding 25-30%, but even though they have done well for the past few days, the yields are still very high. here are a few with prices in us dollars:

Something I wrote on the 7-Seas board:

Energy Trusts

I meant to say, when you're looking at these things you'll see some mighty attractive yields. Be careful - that could be a prelude to a distribution cut, ie. the market has taken them down because it's expecting that. The market isn't always right of course, but you don't have to reach too far to find 10-12% in a quality issue without taking on that extra risk.

The thing you're most interested in though is reserve life. This should be at least 10 years at current production rates, and the reserves should be in friendly locations like Canada and the USA. Don't forget, even if oil prices come in more, most of these trusts are hedged, so unless prices stay low for a while, they probably won't take a big earnings hit. Another point - with everything beaten down so far, now is not a bad time to grow reserves through M&A, so you want to look at financial strength as well.

ebear

(disclosure: ebear owns PWT and AET)