Slip

Spot prices inched higher by a few pennies to a little more than a dime at most locations nationwide Monday compared to weekend levels, and basis tightened a bit with help from the 10.5-cent drop in near-month futures. But many observers still were left wondering how the huge basis chasm will be closed before the November contract goes off the board.

After rising steadily for much of the session, the natural gas futures market tumbled lower in the last 30 minutes of trading Tuesday as locals rang the register and took profits for the day. At just 45,969, volume was light enough for their selling to make a difference and the October contract closed at $4.661, down 2.4 cents for the session and a dime off its earlier high.

With little in the way of fresh fundamental information, natural gas futures traders quietly took profits Friday in sparse pre-weekend trading. In contrast to the previous Friday’s frenzied long liquidation, the selling late last week was light, evidence that traders like the market’s chances of climbing higher when trading resumes this week. The October contract finished at $4.771, down 3.9 cents for the day, but up 4 cents for the week. At 39,107, estimated volume was extremely light.

Dynegy Inc. shares tumbled sharply last week, dipping to less than $3 at times, after the company cut its full-year earnings guidance estimate to ($0.07) to $0.01 per share from the $0.10 to $0.18 per share it predicted in April and reported that its liquidity position fell about $364 million since last month to $1.7 billion, including $644 million in cash.

Dynegy Inc. shares tumbled more than 4% to $3.04 Wednesday after the company cut its full-year earnings guidance estimate to ($0.07) to $0.01 per share from the $0.10 to $0.18 per share it predicted in April and reported that its liquidity position fell about $364 million since last month to $1.7 billion, including $644 million in cash.

Natural gas futures dropped lower Thursday morning as bears were rousted for the second week in a row by a larger-than-expected storage injection (57 Bcf). After falling a dime in the five minutes following the storage report, the market stabilized for the rest of the session. June futures closed at $5.267, down 11.8 cents for the day.

After failing to reach Monday’s high despite an early-morning Access session rally, the natural gas futures market ground lower Tuesday as the midweek doldrums again favored bears. The May contract closed at $5.108 down 2.6 cents in a session that only saw only 47,344 contracts change hands.

In another in a string of volatile trading sessions, natural gas futures climbed higher early in the session Tuesday in sympathy with crude oil and in anticipation of a potentially bullish storage report Thursday, only to be dumped lower in the afternoon as traders realize that winter is starting to release its stranglehold on the market.

Transportation values to the Northeast have rocketed to astronomical heights this week, and spreads widened even further on Tuesday as Gulf prices slipped while Northeast points continued to soar, reaching the highs of almost $14 on Iroquois and more than $15 on Algonquin.