Bevy

Led by local buying, natural gas futures spiked higher for thesecond time in three days Wednesday as traders positionedthemselves on the long side of the market, ahead of the release offresh hurricane and storage news. However, after posting a $4.79high minutes after 2:00 p.m. (EST), the September contract waspressured lower throughout the last hour of trading as locals tookprofits on their long holdings. The prompt month finished up 8.5cents at $4.605, near the lower end of Wednesday’s trading range.