Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.
Bears
Articles from Bears
Futures Continue Lower as Bears Grow Claws and Dig In
With below normal temperature forecasts and no immediate threat from tropical storms or hurricanes, the natural gas futures market tumbled to fresh, four-month lows Monday on selling from both commercial and speculative accounts.
Rockies/Pacific NW Bears Up Best in Bearish Market
The bearish storage report Thursday and associated screen decline, along with forecasts of flagging weather-related demand and the weekend’s typical dropoff in industrial load, had traders anticipating a soft market Friday, and that’s exactly what they got.
Futures Dip 9 Cents as Bears Make Best of Neutral Storage Data
Despite the release of seemingly neutral storage data (46 Bcf withdrawal), the natural gas futures market turned lower Thursday as traders decided to test the bottom end of the market’s recent trading band. Although the selling was steady throughout the session, the downward momentum was not enough to demote spot month prices below support at $5.60. April closed for the session at $5.631, down 9.1 cents for the day.
With Winter Showing Tail-lights, Bears Assert Their Control
In concert with the downtrend now in its seventh week, the natural gas futures market stumbled lower Monday as traders returned from the weekend to weather forecasts suggesting the month of March would blow in more like a lamb than like a lion.
Mild Weather Forecasts Give Bears a Reason; Futures Drop 21 Cents
In a discharge of pent-up selling that had welled up over the holiday weekend, natural gas futures tumbled lower Tuesday in sympathy with the latest round of bearish weather forecasts. Lower prices in the Monday-night Access trading session set the stage and the market responded by gapping lower when regular-outcry trading resumed Tuesday morning.
Rescinding Early Advance, Bears Make It Two in a Row
After gapping higher at the opening bell, the natural gas futures market spent Tuesday’s trading session in a methodical downward slog. With that the February contract completed its penultimate trading session at $5.716, down 1.1 cents for the day and 16.4 cents off its early-session high. The contract is set to expire at 2:30 p.m. EST Wednesday.
Out of Hibernation, Bears Use Storage to Beat Back the Bulls
The bull trend in natural gas futures suffered what some analysts and brokers believe was a fatal blow Thursday as prices spiraled lower on yet another bearish storage report (156 Bcf withdrawal) by the Energy Information Administration. The prompt contract dropped 39 cents in five minutes following the 10:30 a.m. EST inventory update. By 11 a.m. EST, prices had bottomed out at $5.60, down 62 cents from the market’s pre-EIA level. A modest rebound was seen in the afternoon, and the February contract finished the session at $5.834, down 31.6 cents on the day.
Forward-Looking Forecasts Trump Current Cold: Futures Drop 38 Cents
The natural gas futures market turned lower Monday as bears won Round One of what is shaping up to be a compelling battle between short- and intermediate-term weather outlooks. As is often the case on the first trading day of the week, the price action began in the overnight Access trading session. By the time the open-outcry trading session commenced at 10 a.m. EST, bulls were already faced with having to climb out of a deep deficit.
Bears Reign as Absolute Level of Storage Trumps Smallish Injection
After initially moving higher on the news that a smaller-than-expected 34 Bcf was added to storage last week, the natural gas futures market tumbled lower Thursday on the realization that refills will continue for at least another week.