Shuffled

After failing to punch through Wednesday’s $6.80 low earlyyesterday, natural gas futures shuffled higher Thursday as traderscovered shorts following a five-day price slide. Over that period,the February contract lost nearly $3 or 30% of its value to closeat $6.909 Wednesday afternoon. February closed at $7.136 yesterday,up 22.7 cents for the session.

Feeding off January’s late expiration-day rally, the futuresmarket shuffled higher yesterday as local buying slightlyout-matched trade selling in an extremely light trading session.The only notable feature was a late local-led sell-off that trimmedgains into the close. With that, the February contract completedits first day of trading as the spot contract up 2.5 cents to$2.394.

Despite bullish over the counter dealings and a constructiveopening, the natural gas futures market shuffled lower Monday asshort-term traders sold off newly acquired long positions. TheNovember contract notched a $3.02 high shortly after the open thenproceeded lower to its $2.86 low for the session. A late rallybolstered prices near the closing bell to $2.92, a 5.5-cent loss onthe day.

Buoyed by cash market buying interest, natural gas futuresshuffled higher Friday as traders covered shorts ahead of theweekend. After opening at $2.755, the November contract climbedbriskly to its $2.82 high shortly after 11 am EDT. Once the initialbuying push subsided, the spot month moved mostly sideways for therest of the session to settle at $2.793, a 4.9-cent gain for theday.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) shuffled its executive organization last week, yet its hunt for a new president continues. The NGSA said it still does not have a timeline for an appointment to the presidency post, but it hopes to get the job filled quickly. Sources indicated, however, the search may take longer than initially anticipated.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) shuffled its executiveorganization Tuesday, yet its hunt for a new president continues.The NGSA said it still does not have a timeline for an appointmentto the presidency post, but it hopes to get the job filled quickly.