Softening

For the second day in a row Tuesday, natural gas futuresreceived a strong boost in prices from short-covering activity dueto tropical storm concerns in the Gulf of Mexico. Earl became thefifth named storm in the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season yesterdaywith sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. As of 5:00 P.M. EST Tuesday, Earl was located 240 miles South Southwest of New Orleansand moving toward the Northeast at 12 mph. The October contractopened strong and wasted little time in trending higher before anafternoon sell-off left the market with a modest 3.4 cent gainbefore the closing bell. Estimated volume was a robust 82,172.

The usual slump in weekend demand and moderating weather hadcash prices softening Friday, but for the most part losses weresurprisingly small considering how weak the market had seemed inthe face of record-setting heat waves earlier in the week. The onlyreally big declines hitting double digits occurred at opposite endsof the U.S.: Transco Zone 6 citygates in the Northeast, andCalifornia and San Juan Basin numbers in the Southwest.

Flatness dominated at nearly all market points Thursday, andseveral sources anticipate a softening mode today due both to thescreen’s decline Thursday and the usual slump of weekend usage.Also, a marketer said cooling weekend temperatures in Texas shoulddampen some of the recent air conditioning load in the state.

Cash prices for the weekend were down almost across the boardFriday, succumbing to mild weather and lower weekend demand.However, noting the late rebound in the Henry Hub futures contract,a marketer thinks that set the stage for a modest rally in cashnumbers today. He looks for Midcontinent pipes to move back up intothe low $2.10s.