U.S. stock futures are lower this morning, as oil prices continued to surge. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 46 points to 12,048 and S&P 500 stock futures fell 7.50 points to 1,298. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 14.50 points to 2,289.

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.71%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.47%.

Most Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.19%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.70% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.56%.

After a healthy correction, Enterprise Products Partners' (EPD) stock, first discussed here on April 29, 2009 at a price of $24.24, is on the move again, and with good reason. There is a better than 30% chance that natural gas will become the U.S.'s state-of-the-art energy form of this decade.

The reason? Natural gas is abundant, cheap, accessible, and domestic, and in most cases a cleaner energy source than oil and certainly than coal. Enterprise Products Partners is an integrated provider of natural gas pipeline and processing services and natural gas liquids, fractionation, storage, transportation and terminal services. EPD also is a major developer of midstream infrastructure in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.

China raised rates and US housing prices went down yet again. We even had yet another round of fund managers outed in the ongoing waves of insider trading charges. Somehow, some way, equities in the U.S. still made gains in what will be a seven day streak.

Here were Tuesday's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,233.15 +71.52 (0.59%)
S&P 500 1,324.57 +5.52 (0.42%)
Nasdaq 2,797.05 +13.06 (0.47%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

"Eighteen percent: That's the compound annual rate of return that Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) has showered on investors the past decade," says utility sector specialist Roger Conrad.

The editor of The Utility Forecaster explains, "And with a yield of nearly 6 percent--and a payout growing almost 6 percent yearly--the owner and operator of midstream energy assets is on track for much more.

"Last March, Enterprise Products' legendary founder Dan Duncan passed. The company he left, however, is still growing rapidly, most recently tapping into the boom in natural gas liquids (NGL).

Veteran stock and investment analyst and now Bedford Oak Advisors Chairman Harvey Eisen has weighed-in on the oil/natural gas kabuki dance, with a bullish outlook for natural gas.

Oil, which historically trades at about 8 times the price of natural gas, currently is trading at about 20 times natural gas.

On Tuesday at mid-day, oil traded up 58 cents to $88.37 per barrel, while natural gas was down 1 cent to $4.40 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).

For several reasons, natural gas could become the state-of-the-art energy form of this decade, the decade of "the teens." With that in mind, Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), first discussed here on April 29, 2009, at a price of $24.24, has been favored in these circles.

Look for Enterprise's shares to continue to head north, and benefit from what's likely to be a renaissance period for natural gas in the United States in the decade ahead.

The reason? Natural gas is cheap, accessible, and domestic, and in most cases a cleaner energy source than oil and certainly than coal. Enterprise Products Partners is an integrated provider of natural gas pipeline and processing services and natural gas liquids, fractionation, storage, transportation and terminal services. EPD also is a major developer of midstream infrastructure in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.

"I've always been a big fan of investing in real assets. One group I particularly like is pass-through securities, which pass through profits directly to shareholders," says Neil George.

In his Pay me Strategy, the income expert looks at five energy-related securities: Linn Energy (LINE), Holly Energy (HEP), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), Natural Resource Partners (NRP) and Navios Maratime (NMM).

Readers of this space know that I like selected natural gas plays, and Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), first discussed here on April 29, 2009, at a price of $24.24, is one.

Enterprise's shares continue to head north, and look for EPD to continue benefit from what's likely to be a renaissance period for natural gas in the United States in the decade ahead.

The reason? Natural gas is cheap, accessible, and domestic, and in most cases a cleaner energy source than oil and certainly than coal. Enterprise Products Partners is an integrated provider of natural gas pipeline and processing services and natural gas liquids, fractionation, storage, transportation and terminal services.

"Despite economic and stock market uncertainty, two of our dividend-paying energy-related stocks keep on rising; we re remain bullish on the outlooks for Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) and Enerplus Resources (ERF)," says Mark Skousen.

The editor of Forecasts & Strategies explains, "First, Enterprise Products, our Houston-based pipeline company, has been bucking the downward trend and hitting new highs: .

"Enterprise Products (EPD) is is a fine example of the baby being thrown out with the bath water," says Jim Trippon.

The editor of Dividend Genius newsletter explains, "The fundamentals for the energy company here have not changed, if anything they remain as strong as ever and the decline in the units is more the result of Enterprise being viewed as an energy name, not weakness in the company's business.

"Case and point: Enterprise was easily able to tap the capital markets in May, selling $400 million in notes due in 2015 at a fixed rate of 3.7%, $1 billion in notes due in 2020 at a fixed rate of 5.2% and $600 million in notes due in 2040 with a fixed rate of 6.45%. Of course, those yields pale in comparison to the 7.1% you get by owning Enterprise units directly.

Look for Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), first discussed here on April 29, 2009, at a price of $24.24, to continue benefit from what's likely to be a renaissance period for natural gas in the United States in the decade ahead.

The reason? Natural gas is cheap, accessible, and domestic, and in most cases a cleaner energy source than oil and certainly than coal. Enterprise Products Partners is an integrated provider of natural gas pipeline and processing services and natural gas liquids, fractionation, storage, transportation, and terminal services.

The United States is finally 'waking up' to the benefits of increased use of natural gas, and that's a major reason I'm reiterating my buy rating for Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), first recommended on April 29, 2009 at a price of $24.24.

Natural gas is cheap, accessible, and domestic, and in most cases a cleaner energy source than oil and certainly than coal. Enterprise Products Partners is an integrated provider of natural gas pipeline and processing services and natural gas liquids, fractionation, storage, transportation and terminal services. EPD also is a major developer of midstream infrastructure in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.

Natural gas – and the rapidly-developing sector of shale gas – will likely play a larger role in the U.S.'s future energy needs, which is why I'm reiterating my buy rating for Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), first recommended on April 29, 2009 at a price of $24.24.

Enterprise Products Partners is an integrated provider of natural gas pipeline and processing services and natural gas liquids, fractionation, storage, transportation and terminal services. EPD also is a major developer of midstream infrastructure in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.

The plunge in natural gas prices has hurt natural gas and related energy support plays, but just look on that as a buy opportunity, given natural gas's likely large role in the U.S.'s energy future.

Hence, I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), first recommended on April 29, 2009 at a price of $24.24.

Dan Duncan, who is a billionaire, understands the importance of patience (especially in creating lots of wealth). An example of this is his latest deal; that is, his company, Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD), has been pursuing Teppco Partners LP (NYSE: TPP) since March. At that time, Duncan offered about $2.8 billion for the company. And yes, according to the senior management at Teppco, it was too low.

Well, after some wrangling, there is now a deal. Of course, the price tag is higher -- at $3.3 billion (it's a stock-for-stock swap).