Brutal

Cash points dipped across the country Friday for Sunday and Monday delivery as the brutal heat being experienced in much of the country was expected to dissipate over the weekend. Market points could be in for a rebound Monday after August natural gas futures on Friday finished 10.2 cents higher at $2.824, up 15.6 cents from the previous week’s finish.

August natural gas retreated Thursday as traders acknowledged a robust increase in gas storage even as major energy markets were subjected to brutal heat. At the close August had fallen 10.5 cents to $4.395 and September had shed 10.7 cents to $4.362. August crude oil added 73 cents to $99.13/bbl.

As a shivering North America closed out a week of brutal cold up North and unusual cold down South — with more to come over the weekend — reports of new peak day delivery records for natural gas pipelines were starting to trickle in.

Last year was particularly brutal on The Williams Companies, which reported massive net and recurring losses on Thursday and another $2.5 billion in anticipated asset sales, excluding the $1.9 billion that were previously initiated or announced. However, investor confidence in its liquidity and the performance of its core operations going forward was enough to lift its share price by 27% to $3.67 Thursday afternoon.

Any skepticism over a “Siberian Express” arctic cold front making a stop in the Lower 48 was quickly wiped away last week as temperatures plummeted into the teens, 20s and low 30s across much of the Northeast, Midwest and Midcontinent. The only question left was just how long it would be parked over the central and eastern regions of the United States.

If you think it was frigid last week, it’s going to be downright”brutal” in much of the nation this week, according to a short-termweather forecast issued by Salomon Smith Barney.

If you think it’s frigid now, next week is going to be “brutal,”according to a short-term weather forecast issued by Salomon SmithBarney yesterday.