Funnel

After extending to new 18-month highs on forecasts calling for cool weather through the rest of the month, natural gas futures reversed lower yesterday amid weakness in the nearby crude oil pit. For the gas market, the selling came in two distinct surges — one in the late morning hours and the other near the 2:30 p.m. EDT closing bell. The November contract finished at $4.157, down 8.2 cents for the session and a whopping 26.3 cents off its new high.

Similar to other recent forays above the $3.00 mark, Wednesday’s price surge in the natural gas pit at Nymex was short-lived as locals and speculative accounts liquidated new longs and reinitiated short positions. After topping out at $3.04 at 10:15 a.m. EDT, the September contract shuffled lower throughout the session, ending down 6.5 cents at $2.91. Estimated volume was moderate, with 93,329 contracts changing hands.

After extending to fresh four-week highs for the second session in a row Wednesday morning, natural gas futures prices shuffled lower in the afternoon in reaction to the news that a whopping 63 Bcf was added to underground storage facilities last week. The November contract finished almost 30 cents off its $2.69 opening trade, closing 17.4 cents lower at $2.418.

Amid deepening fears that the U.S. economy is headed for a recession, and exacerbated by light trading volume following a bomb threat at Nymex, natural gas futures tumbled to new 19-month lows Tuesday, as institutional traders increased their short exposure. Almost uniform selling was seen across the entire strip of contracts, pressuring the winter strip down 15 cents to $2.99 and the 12-month strip down 13 cents to $2.97. The October contract closed at $2.225, down 14.4 cents for the session.

Pressured by follow-through selling on the heels of Wednesday’sstorage report, and amid crashing cash market values, the naturalgas futures market tumbled lower Thursday as weak longs continuedto head for the exits. After gapping lower at the open, theFebruary contract checked sideways-to-lower throughout the day tofinish at $8.708, down 42 cents on the session.

Amid easing concerns over a heating oil crisis this winter andsofter crude oil prices, natural gas futures were lower for thethird session in a row Friday as longs headed for the exits aheadof the weekend.

Multiple electric utilities have waged a clandestine campaignover the past 3 years to funnel about $17 million through twoWashington, D.C. front groups in an effort to stall electricrestructuring legislation in the House Commerce Committee’s Energyand Power subcommittee, the Washington Post reported last week.

Multiple electric utilities have waged a clandestine campaignover the past 3½ years to funnel about $17 million through twoWashington, D.C. front groups in an effort to stall electricrestructuring legislation in the House Commerce Committee’s Energyand Power subcommittee, the Washington Post reported yesterday.