Tenure

William Massey is no longer a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Congress officially adjourned for the year on Tuesday without the White House signaling its intent to re-nominate Massey for a third term.

Capping a tumultuous tenure as prompt month, the October contract went out with bang Thursday as two distinct waves of buying were more than sellers could handle. After ratcheting higher throughout the late morning following the news that 67 Bcf worth of gas was injected into storage last week, the prompt month dove lower in the afternoon. But just when it looked as if October would drop below the critical $3.50 mark, market-on-close buyers stepped in. That support, combined with an absence of willing sellers, sent prices through the roof in the last 30 minutes of trading. October settled at $3.686, up 19.2 cents for the session and 26.6 cents above where it was when it took over as prompt contract at Nymex a month ago.

May’s tenure as prompt month in the natural gas pit has not gone all that well for the bulls. Although there have been good days when prices ratcheted higher, most of the month has been a downer as prices tumbled from the $5.74 high — notched on April’s expiration day — down to beneath the $5.00 level Wednesday. It was only fitting that the May contract continued to slump on its expiration day Thursday. At the closing bell, the May contract limped off the board at $4.891, down 9 cents for the day and a whopping 84.9 cents off its March 28 high.

Taking a cue from the July contract, which tumbled in anexpiration-day sell-off, August began its tenure as prompt month byslipping lower yesterday morning as traders continued to look pasta bullish storage situation to focus on bearish short-term demandoutlooks. But just like other moves lower in recent weeks,yesterday’s retracement was short-lived and by 11:15 a.m. (EDT)buyers had promoted the near-month back into positive territory onthe day.

Don D. Jordan, chairman and CEO of Reliant Energy, will besucceeded by R. Steve Letbetter as CEO June 1. Jordan will remainchairman of the board until Dec. 31, 2000.