Except

Summer has officially gotten under way, and many people are feeling it. With hot weather starting to pervade most of the U.S. except the Northeast and the upper half of the West, prices managed to rally Monday at most points in the Midcontinent and West and saw little change either up or down in the rest of the East.

Taking its cue from the mild screen weakness on Tuesday, the cash market strength of the last two days came to an end across the country on Wednesday except for a few spots in the Midcontinent and the West. The word on the street was that some shops closed early as traders flowed to Omaha, NE, for the culmination of the College World Series.

Although record-setting heat levels were due to end after Tuesday in the Northeast and weather-based load was not expected to be remarkable elsewhere except possibly in Western Canada and the desert Southwest, prices were up at a solid majority of points Tuesday. The overall cash market firmness was also able to shrug off a 4.4-cent decline by May futures a day earlier.

Except for further spikes at Northeast citygates and also on the two major Appalachian pipelines, there were few other price gains Wednesday despite especially harsh winter weather predicted to continue Thursday in northern U.S. market areas and Eastern Canada. The previous day’s 35.8-cent slide by February futures obviously had a negative influence on most of the cash market.

Except for conspicuous spikes at Northeast citygates, price movement was mixed Thursday with most points moving only a few cents up or down. Forecasts of frigid temperatures Friday and continuing into the weekend from the Northeast to the Rockies proved to be more influential than the previous day’s 11.1-cent decline by February futures; the result was a solid majority of rising quotes.

Price movement was mixed Monday, with gains dominating slightly in the Gulf Coast but the rest of the market mostly softer. Except for triple-digit plunges in the Rockies, in most cases points did not stray very far up or down from flat. Forecasts of colder post-holiday weather in most of the East early this week were proving to be overstated, and the storage report-driven spike of 49.2 cents last Wednesday had little impact in supporting most cash trading points.

On an international natural gas market turned upside down by the fall of the American dollar, Canadians are calling US$100/bbl oil nothing to get excited about except as potentially bad news.

On an international natural gas market turned upside down by the fall of the American dollar, Canadians are calling US$100/bbl oil nothing to get excited about except as potentially bad news.

Prices fell by double digits (and in one case by more than a dollar) throughout the cash market Monday except in the Rockies. Traders continued to find below-normal cooling load for midsummer in most locations and Friday’s August futures descent grew even steeper Monday.