Decides

With little to no change in influences from Monday, cash pricessaw little reason for change themselves Tuesday. The result was agenerally flat market, but small declines outweighed the fewup-ticks.

Absent anything in the way of new influences from weather orfutures, most of the market went into a holding pattern Thursday.Mild softness permeated much of the general flatness as what wasconsidered a bullish storage injection report Wednesday afternoonfailed to provide support for cash prices. Northeast citygates fellabout a nickel, resuming their decline after a brief respite fromthe softness that had prevailed since the first of the month.

MCN Energy Group continued singing the blues to investors lastweek with an announcement that it canceled its Michigan E&Passet sale and took a huge financial loss during the secondquarter. But company officials promised to turn things around witha new executive leadership team and a narrower,vertically-integrated business strategy.