Tends

Despite a screen plunge the day before and a generally weak fundamentals outlook, much of the cash market managed to level off Tuesday. Flat to moderately higher or lower pricing dominated at most points, although softness was a bit more pronounced in the West, where declines ranged as high as a dime or so in the Rockies/San Juan market.

A slightly more positive set of weather fundamentals kept flat numbers dominant in weekend trading Friday. There was a slight bias toward the downside, but few points fell by more than 1-2 cents.

Most eastern markets drifted mildly lower Monday, with most declines in single digits and only a few barely surpassing a dime. The West tended to range from flat to moderately higher in the Rockies and Southwest basins, accompanied by larger California gains. It wasn’t that the West was so strong, sources said, but rather that the region was climbing back out of the deep price holes it had dug for itself Friday.

It is often said that a market tends to fall twice as fast as itrises and yesterday’s price action in the natural gas pit was atextbook example of that. Erasing two weeks of bulls’ handiwork,the November contract burst onto the scene as spot month yesterdayand was promptly sent packing as trade and fund selling ushered itsharply lower throughout the day. A small bounce at the end of theday did little to deaden bulls’ pain. The November contract closedat $5.124, down 32.3 cents for the day.

Most points fell between a nickel and a dime Monday, draggeddown by the anchor of a weaker Henry Hub futures contract, sourcessaid. A chilly West was most resistant to the general softeningwith prices that tended to be flat to off only a couple of cents.