For Investors Only; MDU; GE Is Fired Up About Worldwide Shale Revolution

A reader anonymously asked about MDU. As noted often, this is not an investment site, but I also stick with the spirit of the blog as noted in the "welcome/disclaimer."

I don't own any MDU. It was one of the first companies I ever invested in. I really learned a lot about investing through this company: regulated utilities; unregulated risks and opportunities; energy; dividends; capital gains. 

I sold all of my MDU some years ago after holding it for 20 years or so. I forget the specifics of when I sold it and why I sold it. Perhaps I had a dream suggesting I should sell; who knows?

If asked now about MDU this would be my 30-second reply: if I still held MDU, I would continue to hold it. It has been through the rockiest recession and has, despite self-inflicted errors in the Bakken, it should now profit from all the seed corn it has planted -- the infrastructure. In addition, it should continue to profit from all the activity that should continue in the Bakken. If I still held MDU, I would only sell it if I could find a better opportunity. I would certainly have to take capital gains taxes into consideration.

For those that don't have any MDU shares, like me, I would certainly consider MDU as part of a well-diversified portfolio. I think a company with regulated/non-regulated divisions like MDU makes a nice addition for a portfolio that needs some conservative anchoring. MDU is just one of many such choices.

Hopefully that's wishy-washy enough for readers to sort through. Smile.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here. I posted the above note on MDU as a favor to a reader in the spirit of the "welcome/disclaimer" for this blog. This is not a buy, sell, hold, trade recommendation for MDU -- just idle rambling over lunch.

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I mentioned in an earlier post that GE could talk about renewable energy all it wants, but it is making money the old-fashioned way on energy.

A few days ago, Don sent me this story; I had forgotten about it until now.  The Houston Business Journal is reporting:

On Jan. 20, GE Oil & Gas picked up Houston-based Cameron International Corp.’s reciprocating compression unit for $550 million.

However, at the time of the announcement, GE also revealed that it restructured its oil and gas division at the beginning of 2014 to individually focus on providing manufacturing and services to different segments of the oil and gas business, such as downstream, upstream and subsea. Within this new structure, GE plans to continue growing.

In an interview with the Houston Business Journal, GE’s Mike Hosford explained why GE Oil & Gas is investing in downstream and compressors in particular.

Basically, GE is fired up about the possibilities of a worldwide shale revolution, Hosford said.

In fact, GE Oil & Gas’ new downstream technology services unit — the Houston-based unit that acquired Cameron’s reciprocating compressor manufacturing business — is particularly excited about transporting and storing natural gas and natural gas liquids from shale plays. Hosford, who is general manager of GE’s distributed gas solutions segment, part of the downstream technology services unit, will oversee the integration of Cameron’s reciprocating compressor business into GE.

“The downstream and distribution sector often gets overshadowed by major pipelines, LNG projects, etc., but we have a dedicated team to serve this $11 billion market,” Hosford said.