The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[benfrankledger]

$PAA Plains All American stock has underperformed this year, dropping by almost 38% on a year-to-date basis, including a 10% drop seen in the last two months.

By comparison, its MLP peers, as measured by the ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP), have fallen 16% this year. Plains All American delivered a poor performance in the first half of this year and slashed dividends significantly.

But now, I believe the MLP is sitting on a firmer financial footing. The company has already shown the first signs of a turnaround by growing its earnings and DCF and will likely continue moving this way in the future.