Heights

Although Northeast citygates were descending rapidly from the lofty heights they had reached in pre-weekend trading, most of the market continued to rise Monday as a widespread snowstorm continued to envelop the Midwest, Northeast and even the northern reaches of the South. The general firmness also was supported by the previous Friday’s 9.9-cent increase by March futures and the return of industrial load from its normal weekend hiatus.

Although Northeast citygates were descending rapidly from the lofty heights they had reached in pre-weekend trading, most of the market continued to rise Monday as a widespread snowstorm continued to envelop the Midwest, Northeast and even the northern reaches of the South. The general firmness also was supported by the previous Friday’s 9.9-cent increase by March futures and the return of industrial load from its normal weekend hiatus.

Natural gas futures bulls saw the red of the matador’s cape Tuesday morning and charged, driving the October contract well past the heights of Monday’s rally. However, almost all of the day’s gains were given back in the last hour of the regular session as the prompt-month contract closed at $3.320, up only 2.3 cents from Monday’s finish.

Andrew Fastow, who as CFO guided Enron Corp.’s finances to the heights of success and then to its spectacular fall, was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison and two years of community service. Fastow, 44, had faced a maximum 10 years in prison under a plea agreement he made with prosecutors two-and-a-half years ago (see NGI, Jan. 19, 2004).

Andrew Fastow, who as CFO guided Enron Corp.’s finances to the heights of success and then to its spectacular fall, was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison and two years of community service. Fastow, 44, had faced a maximum 10 years in prison under a plea agreement he made with prosecutors two-and-a-half years ago (see Daily GPI, Jan. 15, 2004).

The cash market pushed on to new heights in most cases Tuesday, spurred by Nymex matching its all-time open outcry record high of $10.10 — if only fleetingly — and continuing winter weather across most of the U.S. and Canada that was penetrating even farther south to Houston and South Texas. It appeared that a growing near-panic over the adequacy of storage inventories was the primary driving force behind the move higher that brought some new point-specific price records.

Transportation values to the Northeast have rocketed to astronomical heights this week, and spreads widened even further on Tuesday as Gulf prices slipped while Northeast points continued to soar, reaching the highs of almost $14 on Iroquois and more than $15 on Algonquin.

Boosted by what may be the most bullish weather forecast to hitthe industry in years, natural gas futures spiked dramatically inmultiple buying surges last week as traders pressed the envelope oftheir long exposures.

Even with December indexes hitting record heights across theboard, swing trading for the first day of the month managed toone-up the bidweek numbers. All points were priced from marginallyto substantially above index levels Thursday.