Bullish

With record high spot and futures prices last week, continuedcold weather and bullish supply and demand projections, LehmanBrothers didn’t pick a bad week to raise its Henry Hub priceforecasts by about 20% for both 2001 and 2002.

New Power Company CEO Eugene Lockhart said last week the consumer backlash to high energy prices this winter and potential push toward reregulation won’t deter his company from becoming the largest retail marketing firm in the nation by early next year. Lockhart said the future is bright for New Power as it enters its first winter in operation with 340,000 retail customers and its sights on obtaining a total of one million in 2001.

Despite the danger of a consumer backlash to soaring energyprices this winter and the potential for reregulation, the CEO ofThe New Power Company, the self-proclaimed first national retailenergy marketing company, believes the future is bright for hiscompany as it enters its first winter in operation.

Record high spot prices, cold weather and bullish supply anddemand projections prompted Lehman Brothers to raise by about 20%its Henry Hub spot gas price forecast for both 2001 and 2002.

Boosted by what may be the most bullish weather forecast to hitthe industry in years, natural gas futures spiked dramatically inmultiple buying surges Sunday night and Monday morning as traderspressed the envelope of their long exposures.

The gas bulls are firmly entrenched at the St. Petersburg, FLoffices of Raymond James & Associates. The group put out areport last week projecting either the loss of 5 Bcf/d of gasdemand this winter due to soaring gas prices or an “impossible”negative balance of working gas in storage at the end of the winterheating season, given normal temperatures this winter.

In a topsy-turvy session that made traders glad the weekend wasnear, natural gas futures spiked and retraced three times Fridayamid a bevy of fundamental and technical news. After encounteringsubstantial selling in the low $6.80s early in the day, the Januarycontract checked sideways for much of the session, finishing up 8.4cents at $6.673. Comparatively the rest of the 12-month strip, ledby March, which erupted 20.7 cents to close at $6.043, experienceddouble-digit gains.

The gas bulls are firmly entrenched at the St. Petersburg, FLoffices of Raymond James & Associates. The group put out areport this week projecting either the loss of 5 Bcf/d of gasdemand this winter due to soaring gas prices or an “impossible”negative balance of working gas in storage at the end of the winterheating season, given normal temperatures this winter.

A solid blast of cold, wintry weather and a technically bullishfutures screen produced tremendous price increases and enormousprice ranges nationwide last week. On Friday, there was little onthe horizon to change the current market picture other than thenormal weekend decline in demand.