Chops

Natural gas futures bears were licking their chops as some near-term weather forecasts continued to look warmer with each passing day. On Tuesday the February contract — which terminates on Wednesday — declined by 23.7 cents to close at $5.485. The March contract fell by 23.3 cents to close at $5.430.

Analysts at Raymond James & Associates took a double-blade axe to their natural gas price forecast for the rest of the year, chopping an entire dollar off the prices they are expecting to see in the third and fourth quarters. They based the change on the likelihood that gas prices will crash when the full level of storage is reached well before the end of the injection season.

Analysts at Raymond James & Associates took a double-blade axe to their natural gas price forecast for the rest of the year, chopping an entire dollar off the prices they are expecting to see in the third and fourth quarters. They based the change on the likelihood that gas prices will crash when the full level of storage is reached well before the end of the injection season.