The overall market continued to consolidate mostly flatpositions Tuesday in another session of quiet trading and fairlytight price ranges. The little bit of movement tended to beslightly to the downside. Once again traders gleaned little in theway of guidance from a stagnant futures screen or from mild weatherfundamentals. A couple of sources seemed resigned to finishing outthe rest of the week in a sideways market.
Positions
Articles from Positions
Futures Trickle Lower in Quiet Sessio
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
Conoco to Cut Jobs, Capital Spending
Conoco plans to eliminate nearly a thousand positions in 1999due to low oil prices and a need to improve operational efficiency.The layoffs will result in a $50 million after-tax charge againstConoco’s fourth quarter earnings, the company announced Tuesday.Conoco also said it was reducing its 1999 capital budget by $500million to $1.8 billion.
Occidental Cutting 80 Jobs
Occidental Petroleum Corp. said it will cut about 80 jobs fromits headquarters staff and transfer about 150 positions to arecently formed subsidiary as part of a broad cost-cutting plan.The move, which reduces headquarters staff by more than half,follows the announcement in September that the company wouldeliminate 210 jobs at its Bakersfield, CA-based oil and gasdrilling subsidiary.
Profit Taking Yields Large Nymex Price Declines
Swelling open interest and large long positions held byspeculators finally caught up with the May Nymex contract onMonday, as the spot month torpedoed 17.8 cents lower to close theday at $2.479. In so doing, the contract easily broke below the uptrendline that was lending major support in the $2.51-53 area. “Ifeel like I’ve been kicked in the face,” one source said.
Futures Prices Fall, But Traders Look For Rebound
The April Nymex contract took a 5.1 cent hit to $2.241 onTuesday, as speculators continued to sell positions following thespot month’s inability to break above the $2.355 resistance levelon Monday, a source told GPI. Total volume was estimated at 41,490contracts.