Alon USA Partners, LP (ALDW)

[jugs]

ALDW's early out-of-the-chute rise this morning---first trading of the new year--- would seem to be a bit disproportionate with respect to the energy sector as a whole. No complaints here, mind you! But I'm questioning the confluence of pertinent factors as in:

Mr. Trump's edging ever closer to inauguration & he's energy concerned.

Refining is one of the first administrative targets w/Icahn and Perry involving expected EPA relaxation of rules.

We witnessed stock compression in the closing days of 2016 trading.
While we could attribute same to profit-taking or even general lack of direction within the energy sector, some of us here won't subscribe to such simplistic explanations, present company included.

We are moving closer to quarterly guidance. This is, after all, known for handing out 90% or greater of gains.

My take is that ALDW is moving into a long-awaited and deserved slot of respect.

And then there's the merge of ALJ (parent of ALDW) and Delek Holdings. That 7.3% premium is looking pretty good from here. While it doesn't necessarily translate directly into a 7.3% add-on value to ALDW, at least I don't see cause for undue concern as in something shocking that will undermine our value as a stand-alone.