Fingers

As CME Group and Nymex Holdings continue to keep their fingers crossed that stockholders and members will vote through their pending $8.4 billion merger, the companies reported Friday that the closing date of the union is scheduled for Aug. 22. If the deal is consummated, Nymex Holdings will merge with and into CMEG NY Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CME Group.

The American Gas Association (AGA), which represents gas utilities, had its fingers crossed that Congress last week would approve a total of $4.2 billion in funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for fiscal 2006. But when the legislative dust settled late Wednesday, the Senate funded the program at only half that level and below what it had approved in fiscal 2005, despite record-breaking home heating costs this winter.

The American Gas Association (AGA), which represents gas utilities, earlier this week had its fingers crossed that Congress would approve a total of $4.2 billion in funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for fiscal 2006. But after the legislative dust settled Wednesday, the Senate funded the program at only half that level and below what it had approved in fiscal 2005, despite record-breaking home heating costs this winter.

The industry was keeping its collective fingers crossed Friday as it watched the potentially destructive Hurricane Dennis eventually land in south-central Cuba on its way to the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The situation kept prices on the rise in most of the East. Except for a few flat to as much as 20 cents higher points, western markets tended to be weaker overall, with losses ranging up to about 30 cents.

The New England gas industry Thursday had its fingers crossed that its apparent success maintaining deliveries during the sub-zero temperatures so far this week would last through the bitter cold on Friday morning.

There is no evidence to suggest that events in Michigan or actions taken by Michigan utilities or transmission operators were factors contributing to the cause of the massive Aug. 14 blackout that rippled across large swaths of the United States and parts of Canada, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) said in the first comprehensive, state-specific report to be released related to the blackout.

Enron Corp., the energy trading company after which many competitors tried to model themselves, was being run by “swindlers,” namely former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and ex-CFO Andrew Fastow, a top-level Enron executive told House subcommittee members Thursday.

With politicians and economists pointing fingers in various directions to attach responsibility for California’s electricity problems, the quarterly UCLA business school economic forecast last Thursday predicted a recession for the state, particularly in the north, driven largely by the electricity crisis. A separate analysis by the university and Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) looked at two scenarios, advocating perhaps a different course than the one charted currently by the state.

With politicians and economists pointing fingers in various directions to attach responsibility for California’s electricity problems, the quarterly UCLA business school economic forecast last Thursday predicted a recession for the state, particularly in the north, driven largely by the electricity crisis. A separate analysis by the university and Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) looked at two scenarios, advocating perhaps a different course than the one charted currently by the state.