Descending

Although Northeast citygates were descending rapidly from the lofty heights they had reached in pre-weekend trading, most of the market continued to rise Monday as a widespread snowstorm continued to envelop the Midwest, Northeast and even the northern reaches of the South. The general firmness also was supported by the previous Friday’s 9.9-cent increase by March futures and the return of industrial load from its normal weekend hiatus.

With colder temps already descending on the Midwest and East and forecasts calling for real seasonal cold to impact the East late next week, natural gas futures traders on Wednesday continued to venture higher towards the psychological $7 level. The February natural gas contract put in a high of $6.800 before settling at $6.755, up 12.4 cents on the day and 57.1 cents higher already for the week.

With a neo-ice age descending into the Northeast and Midwest, an overall bull market was to be expected Friday. But there were notable inconsistencies. While most of the Northeast continued to soar, Algonquin citygates and Iroquois Zone 2 took major dives. Outside the Northeast, quotes tended to range from flat to mildly lower in San Juan Basin and the Rockies to up about 30 cents on Dominion in Appalachia.