Open

For the second trading session in a row yesterday the Maycontract dipped lower at the open, but was unable to completelyfill in the chart created between last Wednesday’s $2.18 high andThursday’s $2.20 low. And once that early selling pressure driedup, the market was free to rally on waves of buying by both localand commercial traders. The May contract pressed higher throughoutthe session, spiking above the $2.30 level at the closing bellbefore settling at $2.299, a 7.3-cents advance on the day. Atechnical difficulty at Nymex last night suspended the after-hourscomputer-only Access trading session.

Questar Corp. announced plans to purchase up to $50 million ofits outstanding common stock on the open market or in privatelynegotiated transactions over the next two years.

The Maryland General Assembly Friday passed legislation to openthe state’s retail electric industry to competition. Gov. ParrisGlendening is expected to sign the bill into law next week. Thelegislation will phase in residential customer choice over athree-year period beginning with one-third of residential customersJuly 1, 2000. Residential customers choosing to keep their utilityas supplier would get rate cuts of 3% to 7.5% to be determined bythe Public Service Commission. The rate cuts would last four yearsand then rates would be deregulated.

After gapping 4 cents lower on the open Thursday, the May HenryHub futures contract quickly prompted eager buying as locals andfunds jumped in to take advantage of the downturn. The contractjumped all the way to a new three-month high of $2.090 beforeprofit-taking triggered a sharp retracement. May ended Thursday’sregular session up 2.5 cents from Wednesday’s close.

Expiration day in the natural gas pit had a little something foreveryone Monday. While bears were greeted yesterday morning by alower open that paved the way for declines to the $1.80 level,aggressive afternoon buying put a smile on bull-traders’ faces asit led the April contract back above Friday’s best levels. But whenall the dust had settled and the final settlement price was handeddown from the data room at Nymex, neither bull nor bear could claimthe see-saw battle as a victory or a defeat. April finished downjust 0.2 cents at $1.852 and the May contract echoed that sentimentclosing 0.2 cents lower to $1.883.

Wild Goose Storage, California’s first merchant natural gasstorage facility, is set to begin operations April 1, at the sametime the state’s second merchant storage project gets a publicairing of its 18 Bcf proposal.

The natural gas futures market tumbled lower last Friday morningwhen a lower open was greeted with steady, unchecked sellingpressure. But after getting caught snoozing early in the day, bullsfought back by bidding up the March contract above $1.80 in choppymidday activity. And by 2:30 in the afternoon many sources feltthat the market would close out the week quietly-right? Wrong-lateposition squaring and market-on-close sell orders had the last sayFriday as they deposited the prompt month contract to its $1.777settle. Estimated volume was 67,482.

Light short-covering buoyed the futures market at the openFriday, as traders exited positions ahead of the holiday weekend.However, sellers above the $1.80 level were waiting and pushed theprompt month to a lower close. The February contract slipped 1.3cents lower to close at $1.796 in Friday’s abbreviated tradingsession. The New York Mercantile Exchange will be closed Monday inobservance of Martin Luther King Day

After a lower open natural gas futures quickly tested thedownside Friday, but the selling dried up, which uncovered someposition squaring into the weekend. With that the January contractwas able to break its string of losses after three days, finishingup 1.8 cents to $1.858. Estimated volume was a light40,799contracts.