Among Ling's favorite MLPs are Enterprise Product Partners, a Houston-based outfit with natural gas pipelines and processing plants mainly focused along the Gulf Coast. The stock lost 30% last year, but had gained nearly 12% through mid-February. It also sported a yield of more than 9%.
Another top pick is Suburban Propane, a distributor of propane fuel oil and other refined fuels whose stock was up 11% after dropping a slight 5% in 2008. Its recent yield was more than 8%.
Among royalty trusts, Ling favors Cross Timbers Royalty, which is not a play on wood, in spite of its name, but a play on oil and gas wells in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. The stock fell 28% last year, was recently up 9% this year, and yielded about 9%.
Many analysts believe that long-term energy supply-and-demand trends should support higher prices once the global economy finally recovers. If you buy into that scenario, MLPs and royalty trusts might be a way to put money in your pocket while waiting for the rebound.