What happened
Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP 1.53%), a master limited partnership (MLP), can't seem to find a bottom. Units of the MLP were down by a hefty 17.6% on sky-high volume as of 10:07 a.m. ET Thursday morning.
What's sparking this latest sell-off? IEP's units appear to be reacting negatively to a long-form tweet by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman Wednesday afternoon. In the tweet, Ackman called the continued tolerance of IEP's margin lenders into question in the wake of Hindenburg Research's May 2 short report, and the MLP's subsequent multibillion-dollar decline in value. Since this report was published, IEP's value has dropped by a staggering 61.4%.
So what
The crux of the situation is that investors have long been attracted to Carl Icahn's namesake MLP due to its enormous dividend yield, which presently stands at an eye-popping 28.9%. If the company can't maintain its quarterly distribution due to a credit crunch, however, the core thesis for owning this MLP will no longer hold true.
Over the past month, Icahn has directly responded to the various claims in Hindenburg's report via a broad-strokes approach. Most significantly, the iconic corporate raider noted in his last response that IEP has "a strong balance sheet, with $1.9 billion of cash and $4 billion of additional liquidity, and [we] stand ready to take advantage of all opportunities." Unfortunately, Icahn's words haven't been enough to comfort nervous unitholders.
Now what
Is it time to catch this falling knife? Despite Icahn's long history of creating value for unitholders, it might be best to watch this story unfold from the safety of the sidelines. Simply put, there are too many moving parts to confidently call a bottom at this point.
