Rumor

In what might be yet another round of “buy the rumor, sell the fact,” natural gas futures traders pushed the February contract lower on Wednesday despite the fact that the freezing cold weather forecasted weeks ago was finally coming to fruition for much of the United States. The prompt month put in a low of $6.200 before closing at $6.234, down 40.4 cents on the day.

The rumor that ConocoPhillips has its eye on Burlington Resources shows that the acceleration of merger and acquisition activity this year is likely to continue, according to analysts at Raymond James & Associates. High commodity prices and low reserve valuations in the equity markets continue to drive interest in purchasing domestic exploration and production assets and companies.

Unocal Corp.’s share price climbed steadily Thursday and Friday on the rumor that ChevronTexaco Corp. is considering making a bid for the company, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal. Neither company would comment.

Unocal Corp.’s share price climbed more than 12% Thursday on the rumor that ChevronTexaco Corp. is considering making a bid for the company, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Neither company would comment.

Following the old “buy the rumor, sell the event” trading mantra, natural gas futures tumbled lower Monday as sellers punished the market just as the coldest weather of the season was arriving in the eastern United States.

TXU Corp., which so far had remained unscathed in either rumor, innuendo or loss of investor confidence, saw the lights dim Friday after drastically revising downward its earnings forecasts through 2003. By midday, credit ratings agencies were re-evaluating the company’s operations, and investors were selling off their stocks in record numbers.

TXU Corp., which so far had remained unscathed in either rumor, innuendo or loss of investor confidence, saw the lights dim Friday after drastically revising downward its earnings forecasts through 2003. By midday, credit ratings agencies were re-evaluating the company’s operations, and investors were selling off their stocks in record numbers.

In a rumor that first broke late last week, Consolidated Edison(ConEd), a combination utility serving over three million electricand one million gas customers in New York, is reported to be inmerger talks with West Springfield, MA-based Northeast Utilities(NU), the largest electric utility in New England. Neither companywould comment on the subject. The reported stock and cash dealwould value NU at $2.8 billion.

After a lower open at the bell yesterday, the futures marketmoved higher and easily recouped Tuesday’s losses. The Julycontract finished up 6.7 cents and in doing so registered anoutside up-day on the daily charts.