Shortened

Although there were a few more flat to moderately higher quotes than on Friday, a holiday-shortened trading week opened Monday much as the previous one had ended Friday: with losses at a large majority of locations. However, in a slightly bullish sign several of the gains had gotten significantly larger, and most of the losses had shrunk to single digits instead of the double-digit drops that were so prevalent Friday.

Penn Virginia Corp. CEO H. Baird Whitehead admitted to financial analysts last Thursday that the company is “essentially a one-trick pony at this moment” due to its heavy focus on the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. However, he said, “we think it’s a pretty good-looking pony.”

Despite the lack of trading volume due to the shortened week in between holidays, January natural gas futures on Tuesday rallied 10.4 cents on the day to expire at $4.216. February futures, which is the new prompt-month contract, added 13.3 cents to close at $4.288.

The cash market closed out the holiday-shortened trading week Friday much the same way as in the previous three days — with a majority of points again registering flat to moderately higher numbers.

Capping off a topsy-turvy holiday-shortened week of natural gas futures trading, the April contract attempted to work lower Thursday morning before being propped up by a fairly supportive 85 Bcf storage withdrawal report. The prompt-month contract put in a low of $8.700 before settling at the $9.065 high on the day, up 4.1 cents from Wednesday, but 81.3 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

After starting last week’s holiday-shortened trading period with gains at all points, the cash market finished with across the board losses Friday. The bearish factors were easy to tick off: a period of weather moderation that began Friday would continue through the weekend; February futures dropped 17.6 cents the day before; and the usual decline of industrial load over a weekend was a factor.

Following a holiday-shortened trading week in which several points ran contrary to overall market direction each day, all points were on the same price movement page Monday — moving higher, that is. Forecasts of cold weather featuring snow showers Tuesday in parts of the West and Midwest and in much of the Northeast were the primary driver of cash firmness, although a small futures gain Friday and the return of industrial load from its typical weekend absence also contributed a bit of support.

Natural gas futures trading during Friday’s shortened session was a quiet affair as a number of market players opted to extend the already long weekend. Finishing up the bearish week, the January contract traded in a slim 9-cent range from $6.625 to $6.715 before settling at 1 p.m. EST at $6.635, down 16.5 cents on the day and 77.4 cents lower than the previous week’s close.

In Friday’s holiday-shortened trading session, June natural gas saved its best for last on its expiration day. After trading in the high $5.80s and low $5.90s for a majority of the session, the contract recorded new lows for the move in the last 40 minutes of trading before going off the board at $5.925 at 1 p.m. EDT, down a nickel on the day. The close Friday was 3.7 cents below the previous week’s close.