Duke Energy (DUK-N)

A fine utility, but it's trading down with its peers.

They have an attractive core business with operations in the Carolinas, Florida and the midwest. But they also have liabilities that led to credit downgrade last March. He wouldn't be excited by a slow, steady utilities company at this stage of the cycle, but Next Era has been trying to buy DUK for the past year. DUK pays you a 3.7% yield to wait. They reported a solid quarter this week. Shares were up 2%. They've benefited from the input of a non-hostile activist investor.

Essentially an energy infrastructure, which he likes as a theme. Overall, he likes this name and thinks it will do all right.

A good quality company, but the problem he has with yield is that we are entering period where we are going to have a rate raise in the US next week. If that is true, utilities are probably the sector that he would avoid most, especially in the US. He would look at a US pipeline instead, or even a telco.