Japanese trading houses, long major players in global energy and commodities markets, recently have stepped up acquisitions in the global water business as they seek to tap a growth market with stablecashflow.
One strategy for playing it safe is to shorten the duration of your muni holdings and consider owning bonds that are backed by a mix of general obligations from stable issuers and revenue bonds backed by specific cash-flow rich franchises.
Investors are more likely to hold onto a stock when they know that a stable or rising dividend is going to be paid every few months and they see either the cashflow or additional shares of the security (if they dividend reinvest) in their accounts.