Bulls

Natural gas bulls shouldn’t anticipate higher prices going into 2011. They could, in fact, see even lower average prices than this year, Barclays Capital analysts said in a note to clients Tuesday.

Natural gas bulls shouldn’t anticipate higher prices going into 2011. They could, in fact, see even lower average prices than this year, Barclays Capital analysts said in a note to clients Tuesday.

Despite forecasts of a significant winter weather event for later in the week, natural gas futures bulls took their foot off the accelerator on Wednesday as the week recorded its first prompt-month contract decline. After reaching a high of $5.558 just after 10 a.m. EST, March futures closed the day’s regular session at $5.419, down 3.5 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Despite forecasts of a significant winter weather event for later in the week, natural gas futures bulls took their foot off the accelerator on Wednesday as the week recorded its first prompt-month contract decline. After reaching a high of $5.558 just after 10 a.m. EST, March futures closed the day’s regular session at $5.419, down 3.5 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

January natural gas futures rose in modest trading Wednesday as traders still saw the market in control of the weather bulls and expressed reluctance to sell until weather forecasts turned more moderate. At the close January futures were up 10.6 cents to $5.821 and February added 11.2 cents to $5.884. February crude oil gained $2.27 to $76.67/bbl.

The story “For Gas Bulls, Bad News Comes First” (see Daily GPI, Nov. 23) quoted an incorrect price forecast from a Credit Suisse presentation slide. For 2009 the firm has cut its U.S. gas price forecast to $3.97 from $4.01.

Natural gas futures bulls stopped the slide in values on Wednesday as the December contract traded in a tight range before ending the day at $4.503, up 3.6 cents from Tuesday’s close.

Natural gas bulls, who had been attempting to rally following a two-day decline, were clubbed over the head Thursday morning after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that a healthy 58 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ending Oct. 9.

Natural gas futures bulls saw the red of the matador’s cape Tuesday morning and charged, driving the October contract well past the heights of Monday’s rally. However, almost all of the day’s gains were given back in the last hour of the regular session as the prompt-month contract closed at $3.320, up only 2.3 cents from Monday’s finish.