After taking a breather Wednesday to consolidate early-week spikes, it was off to the races again for the cash market Thursday. Unlike on Monday and Tuesday when dollar-plus jumps were common, there were only a couple this time, but all of Thursday’s gains were solidly in double digits as they ranged from a little less than 30 cents to $1.20 or so. Price strength was fairly consistent across the various geographic market areas.
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Futures Take Breather Friday Following Busy Week
Following a week full of downright scary price swings, December natural gas futures seemed to take Friday off ahead of the Halloween weekend. December settled the day up 4.1 cents at $8.725.
Futures Take Breather Friday Following Busy Week
Following a week full of downright scary price swings, December natural gas futures seemed to take Friday off ahead of the Halloween weekend. December settled the day up 4.1 cents at $8.725.
Ignoring 3.2 Tcf of Gas in Storage, Futures Climb Higher
Natural gas futures were down modestly in midday trading as traders took a breather following a hectic three days of volatile price action in which the November contract spiked more than 90 cents. Not even the weekly release of fresh natural gas storage inventory data, featuring a 64 Bcf injection, could tilt the scales in either bulls’ or bears’ direction, leaving the market to trade mostly sideways Thursday morning.
Margin Calls and Private Weather Forecasts Intensify Bull Run
After a one-day breather Friday, the natural gas futures market continued its blistering pace of advance Monday as fund short-covering was augmented by private forecasts suggesting the final 10 days of the month will see another blast of Arctic air. An increase in Nymex margin requirements was also seen as a contributing factor, intensifying the urgency for shorts to cover their positions.
Most of Market Starts to Climb Again; Rockies Soft
Apparently Tuesday’s general flatness was just the cash market’s way of taking a breather, because prices were back on an upward track Wednesday. With some exceptions, such as mild Rockies softness and small upticks at a few other points, the gains were remarkably consistent throughout most of the market at 10-20 cents or so.
April Stages Sharp Reversal, Drops 47.8 Cents
Forecasters finally are saying that Old Man Winter soon may be forced into retirement, and that news brought gas futures bears out of their caves on Monday. April futures staged a sharp reversal, opening 34.2 cents lower Monday morning and ending the day at $6.515, down 47.8 cents.
Cold, Screen Spur Prices to Resume Uphill Climb
Apparently the cash market was just taking a price-consolidationbreather for the weekend because it returned to a steep upwardtrack Monday. Only Florida citygates failed to rise by more than 30cents, and the highly volatile California and Pacific Northwestmarkets led the price charge with gains of 60 cents or more.
Soft Points Scattered in Flat to Slightly Higher Market
Most of the market “seemed to take a breather” Friday, as oneproducer perceived it, going quietly into the weekend flat tomildly higher. The points experiencing significant declines ofabout a nickel or greater were scattered They included San JuanBasin, Stanfield and Iroquois Zone 2 and were topped by a drop of alittle more than a dime at Malin.
Flat Market Takes Breather; Citygates See Small Gains
Following the lead of an essentially flat screen during most ofthe cash trading period, the spot market leveled off Wednesday,with small upticks outweighing the few small declines. An Arcticcold front was moving eastward toward the Midwest and eventually tothe Northeast, making citygates tend to rise a bit more thanproduction-area points.