For the second week in a row, the futures market was unable tobuild on advances posted early in the week, and after the Septembercontract flirted with, but did not break through resistanceTuesday, again came under significant selling pressure that leftthe prompt month down 8.3 cents to settle at $1.812.

A Miami broker offered his explanation of the tumultuous tradingthus far this week. “Monday’s advances were based on profit takingpure and simple as shorts cashed in on gains. Then the marketpushed higher in the Monday evening Access session giving theappearance it would continue higher [on Tuesday]. That leftSeptember in a tenuous situation resting near the top of the recenttrading range, with many analysts calling for the market to open2-3 cents higher Tuesday morning. But the market opened slightlybelow those expectations and trade selling pushed it lower.”

However, the broker did see a promising sign for bulls in amarket that has not given them much to smile about lately. Hewitnessed strong interest in the out months and especially thewinter months from industrial customers and others that havebudgeted their gas purchases for the winter. “That could help tosupport the strip, but the front months might be in for some moreerosion,” he warned.

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