Opinions
Richard Croft
TC Energy
TRP-T
COMMENT
Oct 10, 2013
Stock price when the opinion was issued
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This is the one he likes in the space. Part of its business is very utility-like. Steady dividend, which will rise over time. Dividend also looks attractive in the face of an economic slowdown when interest rates would fall. Hold for the long haul.
More pipeline builds would certainly be an opportunity for growth for this name, but that's not why he owns it.
Defensive assets are garnering less and less of a bid as people become more comfortable with economic risk. Used this name as a source of cash to add more beta to portfolios. Great company, but relative price performance has started to back off for the pipelines group. Pipelines carry a lot of debt, and financing costs could get more expensive if long-term yields stay high.
In the event of Keystone getting approved or rejected, is it a worthwhile strategy to take a straddle position 9 months down the road? A straddle involves buying a Call Option and you will make money if the stock goes up. This also involves buying a Put Option, which will make money if the stock goes down. When you are buying both of these, you don’t care which direction the stock goes. You simply believe that it will go a greater distance than the cost of both of the options. 9 months out, you add the price of the Call and the Put to the strike price that you are willing to buy or sell the stock. That will be the trading range implied by the options. If you think the stock will reach either end of that range, based on the outcome of Keystone, then by all means, do the straddle. Your maximum risk is that it closes exactly at the midpoint, in which case both the Call and the Put will expire worthless. Chances of this happening are very small.