SELLING ENCORE ENERGY PARTNERS LP

Sold my stake in Encore Energy Partners LP and using the money to increase my stake in Merck. Didn't like the negative earnings report from ENP, although I enjoyed a nice capital gain and some great dividend payouts while held in my portfolio. Merck has been very good to me as one of my long term holdings, so I'm increasing my stake and plan to hold the shares for years to come.

Not very happy with the government playing politics with BP disaster. It was an unfortunate accident that affects a lot of people. What the administration seems to ignore in their zeal to protect the gulf coast residents who've lost their jobs is that many shareholders of BP stand to lose as well. I fully realize it's not quite the same thing and I do believe BP should be responsible for cleaning up the mess, I don't agree with sucking the company dry and hanging shareholders out to dry. Many of these people are retirees and dependent on the dividend income they received from BP. Is it right to take all the money away from these people and give it to oil spill victims? I personally don't think so. Many of these people are unable to return to work and can't afford to lose the money they've invested with BP or the income from dividends. Yes, make BP pay for cleanup and restitution, but don't drive them out of business. It will only make things much worse than they already are.