Coaster

After riding the roller-coaster of a session Monday up to a $9.595 high only to return to the station with a 2-cent loss at $9.346, natural gas futures traders were content to mostly sit on the sidelines Tuesday, perhaps in an effort to recover from motion sickness. The April contract traded in a quiet 18-cent range between $9.270 and $9.450 before closing out the day at $9.353, up less than a penny.

Taking a break from the passive expirations of recent months, the January natural gas futures contract went on a roller-coaster ride in the last hour of trading Thursday, soaring from $6.885 to a high of $7.240 before going off of the board at $7.172, up 12.6 cents from Wednesday’s close.

The energy markets experienced a roller-coaster ride in 2006 as hurricane and weather forecasts ultimately ended up missing their marks, while electronic energy trading competition increased and the banks in the energy merchant sector continued to evolve from peripheral participants to core market players.

The energy markets experienced a roller-coaster ride in 2006 as hurricane and weather forecasts ultimately ended up missing their marks, while electronic energy trading competition increased and the banks in the energy merchant sector continued to evolve from peripheral participants to core market players.

Seatbelts for natural gas futures traders should have been required once again on Friday, as the November contract copied its roller coaster-like movements from Thursday. Despite being as high as $14.35 in the afternoon, the prompt month ended up settling at $13.921, down 27.5 cents on the day but $1.234 higher than the contract’s previous week’s close.

After a few roller-coaster ups and downs during morning trading, the July natural gas futures contract spent the afternoon on a steady decline, closing down 9.2 cents at $6.115. Notching its fifth consecutive down day, the prompt month once again approached the psychological $6 level as it reached a low on the day of $6.095.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which has taken a roller-coaster ride this year following the surprise resignation of its CEO in March and two announced cuts to its production forecasts, on Tuesday revealed it will shut down an undisclosed number of onshore U.S. drilling rigs to remain within budget. Several rumors Tuesday remained unsubstantiated, but at least one analyst suggested in a research note that the huge independent may be for sale.

Some traders were getting that roller-coaster feeling when prices fell sharply across the board Thursday, only a day after most of the market resumed an uphill trek that had been interrupted by Tuesday’s general flatness. The feeling was enhanced by screen hints that a rebound might be due Friday.

Aquila Inc. shareholders went on a roller coaster ride last week as ILA share prices plummeted $8, or 36%, from the $22.25 close on April 26 to last Tuesday’s low of $14.26 and then rebounded back above $17 on waves of bad and then good news. Moody’s Investor Service posted an outlook negative on the company’s credit April 26, putting Aquila in danger of falling below investment grade. After reaffirming its commitment to maintain an investment grade credit rating, Aquila announced it would buy Cogentrix Energy Inc., a large independent power producer with 3,496 MW of diverse power generation assets, for $1.5 billion, including debt assumption. The purchase, which was viewed favorably by Wall Street, overshadowed a negative earnings report the company released the following day.