Despite the bullish double whammy of rising crude prices and the development of a tropical wave in the Atlantic, natural gas futures remained extremely quiet Friday, as traders elected to wait until a clearer fundamental and technical picture develops. With that the November contract spent a second straight day moving sideways, slipping 0.9 cents at the close to finish at $2.244. November crude oil, meanwhile, tracked 69 cents higher to close at $23.43.

Although natural gas futures have, over the course of its 10-year trading history, shown a proclivity to always be trending either up or down, traders admit that volatility might be put on hold until a clearer picture of what to expect this winter is available. Adding to the uncertainty, traders agree, is the fate not only of the economy, but also of the worldwide petroleum complex as the U.S launches its campaign against terrorism.

“Unlike the volatility that the rest of the energy complex is experiencing, natural gas is consistently and methodically going nowhere,” said Jay Levine of Advest Inc. “I tend to think that action will continue for the near to intermediate term.” Further out on the horizon, Levine still see lower prices, which he believes will come to fruition when the market learns more about the weather this winter. “The back months have lagged behind the losses achieved in the front month. They will have more down-side risk.”

In an effort to take advantage of this staid market, Levine would endorse a strategy of either buying costless collars or waiting to sell a rally or buy a dip at $2.32-35 or $2.10-14 respectively.”It’s going to be a long couple of months,” he lamented.

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