By Jon D. Markman Stocks have quietly tip-toed around Wall Street the past few days as if they were trying to avoid being noticed. Meanwhile, newscasters focused on more important matters, like where Tim Tebow is going to throw his Hail Marys next year and whether Mitt Romney is more of an Etch-a-Sketch () than a Ken doll. All the economic news has been in line with expectations; neither Europe nor China blew up much, Apple did not release any new products and the sleepy stocks in telecom were leaders, which is about all you really need to know. Well, actually, there was one interesting new development: A report out of Goldman Sachs that suggested this is the best time to buy stocks and dump bonds in ages. And then, as if to stick a knife in the analysts' claim, Treasurys rallied for the first time in two weeks. Take that, muppets. In these kinds of crazy, mixed-up times, a lot of investors are turning to master limited partnerships for steadier capital appreciation and big dividends. The accounting for these oddball securities can be a bit of a hassle at tax time, because gains are assessed a little differently on a form K-1 rather than a normal 1099. But you can avoid that hassle by just owning an exchange-traded fund instead of individual issues, such as Alerian MLP AMJ -0.57% or its double-leveraged equivalent, UBS MLP 2x MLPL -0.67% . You will virtually always do better in the best-of-breed securities rather than a fund, so I will highlight a few of them for you in the next week or two. First, we can look at the biggest, Enterprise Products LP EPD -0.49% . At over $47 billion in market capitalization, Enterprise is the group leader, providing customers with a number of services including transportation pipelines, storage, natural gas processing, marine services, and terminals. What makes Enterprise special is that it has an integrated asset base that covers the entire midstream value chain, whereas most MLPs operate in one or two segments at most. For example, Enterprise gathers natural gas from wellheads, operates gas-processing plants to separate natural gas liquids, and has the ability to transport both natural gas and the liquids in its dedicated pipelines. Enterprise's vertical chain doesn't stop there, as it owns storage and fraction facilities, all while marketing its energy products to the rest of the petrochemical industry. In essence, it can provide a midstream solution for natural gas, liquids, and crude oil, all the way from the drilling operation down to the end market. Think of Enterprise as an all-purpose solution. Enterprise has been in operation since 1968 as a wholesale marketer of natural gas liquids, but its merger with GulfTerra in 2004 catapulted it to the top of the MLP pyramid. In between were a number of acquisitions, partnerships and mergers that helped it become the giant it is today. The company is led by Michael Creel, who was elected president and chief executive in 2010. He previously served in executive roles with several peers, rivals and subsidiaries, including DEP Holdings, Duncan Energy Partners LP, Enterprise GP Holdings, and others. Some of the benefits to Enterprise's size is the long-term relationships it has forged with some of the industry heavyweights. Enterprise jointly owns facilities with major oil, natural gas, and petrochemical companies like BP BP -1.30% , Chevron CVX -1.97% , Exxon Mobil XOM -0.29% , ConocoPhillips COP -0.98% and several more.

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