"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).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Granite Construction Inc (GVA), Sunterra Corp (SNRR), Halliburton Co (HAL) and Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc (GOLF) were today's notable downgrades:

• Matrix USA downgraded Granite Construction Inc (NYSE: GVA) to Sell from Buy on valuation.

• CL King cut Sunterra Corp (OTC: SNRR) to Neutral from Strong Buy.

• UBS removed Halliburton Co (NYSE: HAL) from its U.S. Strategic Stock Selections List.

• JP Morgan cut Golfsmith (NASDAQ: GOLF) to Neutral from Overweight, cutting risk to full-year guidance.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Bank of America cut Spirit Finance Corp (NYSE: SFC) to Neutral from Buy following news that an Australia-based consortium led by Macquarie Bank Ltd will acquire Spirit for $14.50/share.

• Baird downgraded Diamond Management & Technology Consultants Inc (NASDAQ: DTPI) to Neutral from Outperform following its lowered Q4 outlook.

• Goldman cut Holly Energy Partners (NYSE: HEP) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).