Fearful

Following a three-day, 13.5% decline off last Wednesday’s highs, natural gas futures checked quietly sideways Tuesday as locals picked each others’ pockets and bulls waited in anticipation of supportive storage news due out Thursday. As evidenced by the strong interest in the out months, strip buying was seen to lift prices at the closing bell. The December contract finished 2 cents higher at $3.883. The 12-month strip, meanwhile, advanced 3.6 cents to finish at $3.868.