"The operations of many energy partnerships have nothing to do with the price of crude and natural gas; they only need to have demand to move and process crude oil and natural gas rather than to pump it out of the ground," explains Neil George.

In his specialized advisory services, The Partnership, he looks at Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) and Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR).

"Midstream partnerships--those that operate pipelines or storage and processing facilities segments as well as those that invest in these segments--are among the most stable distribution payers.

"And, more importantly right now, they're among the most stable investments in what's become a treacherous stock market.

These middlemen, in between the producers and the consumers, are perhaps the best hedge for your portfolio as they continue to generate hefty cash flows for investors.

"Whether the broad energy market is up or down, these partnerships continue to be all-around successes. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Kinder Morgan Management, are Foundation holdings in our portfolio.

"One of the sectors I want to buy when it's on sale is the coal business," says Bryan Perry, editor of The 25% Cash Machine. Here, he looks at Fording Canadian Coal Trust (NYSE: FDG).

"Fording Canadian Coal Trust is an open-ended mutual fund trust and one of the largest royalty trusts in Canada. The trust makes quarterly distributions to unitholders using royalties received from its 60% interest in the metallurgical coal operations of the Elk Valley Coal Partnership.

"It is a beneficiary of the booming global steel industry where FDG's business is concentrated. Despite interruptions in coal production and delivery that may cause wild price swings, the underpinnings to the supply and demand equation for metallurgical coal are solidly bullish.

"The market is pricing publicly-traded partnerships as if they're headed for bankruptcy," says Neil George who sees high yield and value in select issues. Here's two ideas from The Partnership Letter -- a global infrastructure play and a real estate investment trust.

"There are some darn good partnerships out there that are indeed worth the near-term risk, even amid the probability of lower stock prices.

"Partnerships are characterized by high cash generation and the maximization of depreciation and other tax deductions. They then pay out as much cash as possible to unitholders. And with prices so low, we get to buy into assets that in many cases are worth a lot more in terms of liquidation value.

"Harvest Energy Trust (NYSE: HTE) is exactly what we love – a company with incredible upside and hefty 'dividends' that's being ignored byWall Street," says Keith Fitz-Gerald.

The editor of Money Morning explains, "But the stock is not being ignored by the company's executives. In fact, insiders are buying like crazy. And while this by itself doesn't guarantee higher prices, it's an important indicator of things to come, especially when oil prices are destined to increase in the coming years.

"Harvest Energy is located in Calgary and functions as a Canadian royalty trust, which means its profits are funneled back to investors in the form of 'distributions.' Harvest engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in western Canada.

"And the best part is, it's been tamped down in the last two quarters. You see, management has reduced its distribution by 21%, citing volatile energy prices and the new tax rules set to take effect in Canada in 2012. It also carries a lot of debt after having consolidated purchases of other oil and gas trusts and large private producers over the last two years. The company also purchased a refinery complex – and that didn't come cheap.

"Now here's where things get really good: Plain and simple, Harvest is sitting on oil – a lot of it. Large multi-million barrel reserves, with an estimated 9.3 years of proven and probable reserves using conventional extraction techniques. It's also sitting on over 1 billion barrels of untapped oil sands.

"Provident Energy Trust (NYSE: PVX) is one of the 'best in class' income investments within the energy sector," says Bryan Perry in his The 25% Cash Machine.

"Provident had third-quarter results that illustrate the value of its diversified-energy portfolio, as it increased production and maintained stable distributions in the face of persistently weak natural gas prices and a rising Canadian dollar.

"Total funds flow from operations of $105 million (43 cents per unit) for the quarter underpinned stable distributions. The negative impact of weak natural gas prices and the rising Canadian dollar in the third quarter were partially offset by strong oil prices, higher production and midstream crack spreads.

"Consolidated oil and gas production in the third quarter increased by 26% over 2006 to 38,800 boe per day, which includes the results of acquisition and drilling success in Canada and acquisitions in the United States.

Last December, over 100 stocks were featured in our Top Picks for 2007 report. Now, at mid-year, we turn to the 20 advisors whose picks showed the strongest gains to get an update on their previous picks, as well as a new favorite stock for the second half of the year.

Gordon Pape, editor of The Internet Wealth Builder, chose Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) as his favorite stock for 2007, which rose 31% as of 6/1/07. Here is his original recommendation and his current opinion on Brookfield.

For his new favorite, the advisor looks to Precision Drilling (NYSE: PDS). He explains, "If you like to buy good companies at beaten-down prices, take a good look at this income trust.

"Precision Drilling, which provides services to the Canadian oil patch, has been battered and bruised by a decline in oil exploration activity, distribution cuts, and, of course, the proposed new tax on income trusts which is now working its way through the Parliament of Canada.

"Investors were hit with a second distribution cut in six months when the trust announced on May 18 that it is chopping another 32% off its monthly payment, slicing it to 13 cents. That reduces the annual payment to $1.56 a share, less than half last year's level of $3.24.

"There's no doubt this oilfields service provider is going through a tough period and management hasn't tried to sugar-coat the situation. Despite the gloomy outlook, RBC Capital Markets said in a research report that the firm's dividend cut probably represents the last one for the year.

"The trust's payout ratio should now be marginally below that of other oil service providers and it is generally expected that drilling activity will pick up later this year.

"Since tax changes on Canadian trusts were announced last October, their valuation premiums have vanished," notes Gavin Graham, contributing editor to Gordon Pape's The Income Investor.

And while the advisor notes that takeover speculation alone is not a reason to buy oil and gas trusts, he says, "It would not be unreasonable to wonder if a number of foreign oil companies aren't running their numbers on some of the large Canadian trusts."

One favorite, which he calls a "blue-ribbon energy trust" is Penn West Energy Trust (NYSE: PWE) -- one of the largest oil and gas trusts listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. The firm is involved in gas, light crude, heavy crude, and oil sands operations in north-eastern British Columbia, Alberta, and south-western Saskatchewan.

He notes, "Penn West converted from a corporate structure 18 months ago and therefore has a long track record of proven delivery. It is run by Murray Edwards, one of the most successful Calgary-based oil entrepreneurs. Overall, we believe Penn West offers a good combination of current income and growth potential."