"Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) is a paragon of consistency; the stock continues to rise and the company continues to deliver on its expectations," says Jack Adamo.

In his Insiders Plus newsletter, he explains, "The master limited partnership has made great strides in cost controls to compensate for the weak economic environment. When things turn around, it could really take off."

"KMP is one of the largest and most respected pipeline and energy storage LPs in North America. It operates or owns interests in more than 26,000 miles of pipelines and 170 terminals.

This post is part of a 12-article feature that can be read here: Today's best income ideas.

"Master limited partnerships have been among the market's most stable and reliable groups; but 2008 was a painful exception, with the benchmark index down nearly 37%, the worst performance in its 13-year history," says Elliott Gue.

In Personal Finance he now sees a "great opportunity" for investors to takes positions in this high-yielding sector. Here's a trio of favorite investment plays in the MLP arena.

With stock prices near decade lows and fear at generational highs, many market participants are looking for harbors in the storm -- and turning their eye from high risk growth stock opportunities to what are generally more conservative income ideas.

For those looking to broaden their holdings to include yield-generated income, we turned to a dozen leading newsletter advisors who in turn offered a wide variety of income-oriented ETF and fund favorites.

Yes, fixed income holdings have their own risks. But in general, a diversified portfolio -- balanced between stocks and bonds -- has proven a more defensive posture. In addition, the selections in this report are funds and ETFs; as such the investments themselves are diversified among many holdings.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

"Given Obama's statements regarding raising qualified dividend and long-term capital gains, tax-deferred dividend income, like that provided by master limited partnerships (MLPs) such as Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), should look very attractive," Carla Pasternak, editor of High Yield Investing.

"Under Obama, the current Bush tax cuts would appear to have little likelihood of being extended, suggesting that dividends will again be taxable as ordinary income, at a tax rate of up to 35%. Capital gains will also be taxable at the top rate of 20%.

"However, the corporate structure of master limited partnerships generate cash flow that's considered a return of capital. Instead of being taxed as a regular dividend, returns of capital instead reduce your cost basis -- meaning you won't have a tax liability until you sell the security.

"Typically, MLPs pay out around 75-90% of their distribution as tax-deferred return of capital. The balance is treated as taxable income, even in an IRA type of account. For that reason, MLPs are suited for a taxable brokerage account.

"Almost any tax-advantaged MLP could protect your portfolio from the higher tax rates. I've zeroed in on Kinder Morgan because of its superior dividend yield of around 7.5% and strong dividend growth history fueled by growing cash flow.

"Kinder Morgan is one of the largest owners and operators of energy-related pipelines and storage facilities in the U.S.

"We're continuing to emphasize conventional energy, solar, shipping, agriculture, and commodities," says Harry Domash, who adds, "But one industry we've overlooked so far is coal."

In his Winning Investing, he explains, "This month, we're adding two coal industry picks. One, a short-term play to capture the action in hot coal mining stocks, and the other, a long-term dividend-paying investment."

"We've avoided coal primarily because environmentally speaking, coal is bad news. Coal is mostly used to generate electricity and to power steel plants. Crude oil prices are so high because supply can barely meet demand.

"Think about what would happen to oil prices if coal wasn't available. Due to increasing global demand, coal prices are moving up dramatically and it doesn't make sense for us to ignore that.

"For longer-term investors, we recommend Natural Resource Partners (NYSE: NRP), a master limited parternship. The MLP owns coal properties in the Appalachia, Illinois Basin, and the Western U.S. NRP leases its properties to mine operators.

"Contrary to popular belief, CO2 isn't simply a useless pollutant; in fact, the gas is used to produce oil via a technique known as a CO2 flood," says Neil George and co-editor Elliott Gue in Personal Finance.

To invest in the trend toward increased usage of CO2 floods, the advisors look to the leader in storage and transportation of this gas, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), a master limited partnership (MLP).

The advisors explains that CO2 gas is already used to produce more than 200,000 barrels of oil per day in the US alone, employing the CO2 flood. This involves pumping CO2 under pressure into oilfields to squeeze additional production out of older, depleted fields.

Says George and Gue, "With oil prices above $60, there are plenty of opportunities for producers to further expand the use of CO2 floods." They add, "That's great news for companies that handle the transportation and storage of CO2 for enhanced oil production." Topping that list, the suggest, is Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the largest transporter and marketer of CO2 in the US.