Seem

Things aren’t always what they seem. What starts as a natural gas play can become an oil/gas liquids play. Sometimes the best thing to do is circle back to your roots. But it’s important to always know where you are, especially when you’re in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

Social media that consumers seem to have adopted faster than they originally took to other electronic communications staples — Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and YouTube — were added to Xcel Energy’s utility tool kit as the utility holding company publicly launched its own social media platform Thursday.

The upgrade of a tropical wave in the southern Bahamas to Tropical Depression 3 (TD3) was almost a given during cash business Thursday, but it didn’t seem to impress traders. Neither did a heat wave forecast for the South and highs reaching the low to mid 90s in parts of the Midwest and Rockies.

Overall weather fundamentals didn’t seem all that supportive, but prices increased at a large majority of points Monday. The return of industrial load following the weekend was a minor bullish factor, while Friday’s futures gain of 0.3 cent was essentially neutral to the cash market.

Energy executives seem to be feeling more confident about the future, evidenced in recent surveys and sealed by the surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity since late 2009.

Energy executives seem to be feeling more confident about the future, evidenced in recent surveys and sealed by the surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity since late 2009.

Energy executives seem to be feeling more confident about the future, evidenced in recent surveys and sealed by the surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity since late 2009.

Despite strong Wednesday morning trade, which made it seem that the natural gas futures rally would last a third consecutive session, the October contract hit its peak just before noon before trailing lower for the remainder of the regular session, closing at $2.829, up 2.2 cents on the day.

What might seem to be just another down day Tuesday may prove to be more pivotal than some traders imagine. Prices made an early stab to as low as $3.448 in electronic Globex trading slicing through widely heralded technical support at $3.500. Market technicians re-calibrated their estimate of what now constitutes technical support 12 cents lower, and if that is taken out, traders may very well be looking at natural gas futures with a $2 handle.