Higher

A combination of stronger cash prices met with and conspiredwith constructive technical factors to lift the futures market forthe 4th straight day Tuesday. November managed a 5.9 cent rally tosettle at $2.202, but the big news of the day centered on the outmonths which posted similarly impressive advances, bringing the3-month strip up 6 cents. Estimated volume was a healthy 69, 463 onthe day.

Fresh off Wednesday’s advance the futures market looked poisedto continue higher Thursday as early buying prompted the market upat the open. However, a 25-cent gain in two days was more than eventhe greediest of bulls could handle, and the market reacted bytrending down. That left the November contract with a 1.9 cent lossto settle at $2.414 at the final bell.

The November contract debuted as the prompt month yesterday byposting modest gains during a quiet trading session that saw nofresh news. November opened lower and quickly tested Monday’s $2.27low, but light commercial buying helped drive the market up 4.5cents to settle at 2.347 for the day. Estimated volume was a modest33,428.

The futures market moved quietly higher in fairly subduedtrading on Friday until a round of position squaring and freshbuying boosted the market before the close. That was enough topropel the September contract above its recent trading range tosettle at $1.877, a 6-cent advance on the day.

The overall cash market was flat to slightly higher Monday, withlarger increases tending to occur in the Southwest basins,Rockies/Pacific Northwest and California border. But by far thehighest-flying price point was intra-Alberta, where a NOVA ruptureSaturday (see Transportation Notes) was keeping up to 1 Bcf/d offthe market. Gas that had been trading in the low C$1.50s Saturdaymorning prior to the rupture was up to the C$2.10 area Monday, aCalgary source said.

All indications pointed to the futures market continuing higheron Wednesday: gains posted in the Tuesday evening Access session, awell bid over the counter market Wednesday morning, and inertiacoming off two days of advances. But when the market openedyesterday a vital component was missing, prompting a beleagueredbull to say “the buyers just didn’t show up [Wednesday] morning.”The September contract meandered down from its open, slipping 2.2cents to close at $2.873.

Small gains dominated the late-July incremental cash marketWednesday. Positioning for cash-outs was the primary reason forfirmness in the Midcontinent and Gulf Coast, according to aproducer; “there’s not much else to base it on.” Predictably,incremental business tended to get shoved onto a back burner as theHenry Hub futures contract for August expired.

People saw the screen start higher Monday morning and “everybodywas off to the races,” a Midcontinent marketer said. Priceincreases were across the board but by widely varying amounts, evenamong neighboring pipes in a region. Everything basically followedthe Henry Hub futures contract, according to a Northeast trader.However, he and other sources agreed that virtually every point wasbacking off near the end of activity. “People just quit buyingafter the screen run-up,” he said.

The June Nymex contract inched 2.4 cents higher to $2.159 onThursday, as traders entered a slight buying mode following the 8.0cent decline June turned in the previous session. “Today was a bigday in that the contract held technical support at $2.11,” ananalyst told GPI. Total estimated volume came in at 47,753contracts.