Glued

Futures Push Higher as Dean Continues to Strengthen

With the energy industry glued to storm forecasting models in the attempt to predict Hurricane Dean’s path early this week, the natural gas futures market had upward pressure on it throughout Friday’s session. After trading above $7 three times during the week, the September contract was actually able to settle above the psychologically important line for the first time on Friday at $7.010, up 13.5 cents on the day and 19 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close.

August 20, 2007

Ready or Not…Futures Fall on Beefy Storage Fill

If you trade natural gas, yesterday was a good day to be glued to your chair. Approximately eight minutes ahead of its scheduled 2 p.m. EDT release, the American Gas Association reported that a whopping 106 Bcf was added to underground storage facilities during the week ending June 15, bringing working gas in storage levels to 49% full at 1,609 Bcf. Futures reacted instantly, tumbling 15 cents to $3.75 just 10 minutes after the report was released. The prompt July contract would never recover from the initial selling surge and finished 24.7 cents lower at $3.734.

June 21, 2001