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Many traders likely hauled out dictionaries Monday in attemptsto find the right adjectives to describe the awesomeness of themarket they were experiencing. In a tremendous push inspired byrevised forecasts calling for a severe winter cold snap next week,most points measured gains in the range of 70-95 cents, anddollar-plus advances were not uncommon. Some quotes topped $20 atall three California points.

Trendlines, like exit polls for statisticians, can tell marketwatchers a lot about the direction in which things might beheading. And while some statisticians in political arena might bewell-advised to take a closer look at their rules and procedures oflate, technicians in the natural gas arena have had a pretty easytime forecasting market moves. Since smashing into long-termtrendline support on Oct. 31, the market has resumed its uptrendand erupted a dollar higher, leaving even the mostdyed-in-the-wool bear traders second guessing their stripes.December futures finished strongly again Wednesday, up 25.7 centsat $5.338.

Even in the wake of the summer’s power crisis and emergencymeasures, San Diego Gas and Electric can’t find any long-term powerpurchase deals to its liking, and, in fact, it has pulled back arequest-for-proposal it had outstanding, soliciting longer-term,fixed price contracts.

The speed at which energy companies embrace the Internet isexpected to accelerate for at least two more years, after whichcompanies that have aggressively invested in eBusiness will moveahead of competitors because of expanded revenue growthopportunities and reduced cost structures. At least that’s what anindustry survey by energy adviser Cap Gemini Ernst & Young U.S.LLC suggests.

With little in the way of fresh news on either the technical orfundamental front, natural gas prices took the path of leastresistance yesterday, slipping lower but settling above key supportat $3.80. After plumbing its lowest point in two months at $3.79shortly after 2 p.m. (EST), the August contract finished stronglyto settle at $3.86, down 2.4 cents on the day.

After being thwarted in repeated attempts to punch through the$4.23 level during the first hour of trading, natural gas bullsturned in their horns Friday, giving way to light sellingthroughout the rest of the session. Limited to an extremely tight,7-cent range for the day, the August contract slipped 1.6 cents tofinish the week at $4.15.

Cash traders returned from the long holiday weekend Wednesday tofind most of the market turning considerably softer, and it’s asafe bet that prices will keep falling today, since the entireenergy futures complex was getting clobbered Wednesday, sourcessaid.

After watching the market slip a whopping 10% in a fierce Mondaysell-off, bulls dug in their heels yesterday and were successfulavoiding July’s first sub-$4.00 settlement since June 7. Afterprobing to its $3.96 low on the day, the prompt month received awave of bargain-hunting that lifted it to a $4.107 close, up 4.4cents for the session.

While Canadian natural-gas producers scramble to find newsupplies to fill their expanding pipeline grid, their leading peerin the electricity sector is laboring to get rid of the stuff – bycurbing flatulence in cattle.