Starting with Growth Portfolio Core Holdings power plays, Dominion Resources scored an 11.3 percent boost in second quarter earnings. Duke Energy rose 4.2 percent, Entergy Corp gained...

Zero—that’s the number of regulated US utilities in history that have wiped out bondholders. Every distressed company—including the handful forced to file Chapter 11—has been able to ultimately restore investment grade ratings, making bondholders whole.

Cash flow and revenue growth of 30 percent-plus is hardly utility like. But those are the numbers cable communications provider Comcast Corp put up in the second quarter and has consistently for the past few years.

High reported debt levels sent investors running even from the strongest limited partnerships (LPs) last month. That’s given us a golden opportunity to buy the best of the bunch on the cheap, particularly AmeriGas Partners.

Ameren Corp’s earnings will be cut by 26 cents a share this year, followed by a total of 18 cents during the next three years. That removes enough near-term dividend risk for Ameren to exit the Watch List this month. Hold Ameren Corp.

Nine years ago, the world needed a bailout and got it. After dragging down whole countries, the Asian contagion at last reached these shores.

Market history never repeats exactly, but occasionally, it comes awfully close. The graph “Taking a Hit” compares utility stock performance during the past six months with the last credit crunch: the Asian contagion of 1997-98.

When California passed its long awaited electricity deregulation law in 1996, it was supposed to signal the start of a revolution. Proponents had argued for years that breaking up utility monopolies would trigger an explosion in generating capacity...

So much for hard-and-fast positions: Two days ago, a Federal Reserve governor from St. Louis stated the nation’s central bank wouldn’t move to combat the credit crunch unless there was “a real calamity.” He also asserted there was still no evidence of a negative impact on the US economy.

How do you solve a liquidity crisis? The simple answer is to inject more liquidity into the financial system. The hard part is not pouring in too much and thereby setting off a speculative boom in the markets that leads to a greater meltdown later on.