CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST) expanded itsCanadian presence yesterday as PremStar Energy, Canada, a CMS-MSTaffiliate, acquired ECNG Inc., an independent energy consultingfirm, from El Paso Energy Marketing Canada Inc. Terms were notdisclosed. PremStar worked together with a group of formerexecutives from ECNG to acquire the firm.
Trading
Articles from Trading
Market Sees Tiny Gains as It Waits for Weather
Most cash trading points managed to squeeze out minor upticksWednesday despite a modestly softer screen. Activity was subdued asweather fundamentals remained as relatively mild for summer as theywere for much of last winter.
Active Trading by Locals Sends Futures Lower
Adding to the price erosion that began last Tuesday, natural gasfutures tumbled lower at the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday asunsupportive cash market values met with heavy local selling.However, when a second wave of selling failed to materialize,speculative traders were forced to cover shorts into the closeyesterday, sources said. The August contract finished at $2.144,down 1.9 cents on the day.
Weather, Technicals Tip Scales in Bulls’ Favor
Activity in the natural gas pit at NYMEX has beenuncharacteristically quiet recently with low volatility and sub-5cent trading ranges the rule rather than the exception. In fact,the only real excitement in the past couple of weeks came Mondaywhen the July contract bounced 3 cents in a late rally. But eventhat was quickly dismissed by many traders who considered itnothing more than a freak, expiration-day anomaly in an otherwisesubdued market. Enter the August contract, which wasted little timeyesterday in moving dramatically higher in a rush of speculativeand commercial buying. The newly crowned prompt month finished up7.6 cents for the session at $2.400.
West Pricing Strongest; Power Alert Effects Minimal
Monday’s spot trading yielded a hodgepodge of results, with hotweather in both the East and West being the primary market force.Despite an appeal for electricity conservation in New England asregional power utilities strained to meet demand, gas prices thereshowed little change. But a western heat wave had quotes rangingfrom flat to more than a nickel higher.
Short-Covering Favors Bulls in Quiet Pre-AGA Trade
The futures market continued higher Wednesday in another quiettrading session where local buying was too much for scale-up tradeselling. But despite its 2.6 cent advance to finish at $2.264, theJuly contract fell short of filling in the chart gap up to Friday’s$2.283 low. Estimated volume was a relatively light 56,980.
Bears Shrug Off Storage, Deposit Market Lower
After a brief uptick during the Wednesday night Access tradingsession, natural gas futures continued lower yesterday at the NewYork Mercantile Exchange and settled below key support levels. Julyfinished at $2.285, after carving out a $2.27 low early Thursdaymorning. Estimated volume of 95,938 was almost double that ofMonday and Tuesday.
Market Stands Pat as Influences Remain Neutral
The overall market continued to consolidate mostly flatpositions Tuesday in another session of quiet trading and fairlytight price ranges. The little bit of movement tended to beslightly to the downside. Once again traders gleaned little in theway of guidance from a stagnant futures screen or from mild weatherfundamentals. A couple of sources seemed resigned to finishing outthe rest of the week in a sideways market.
Futures Lower in Pre-AGA Cool-Off
Light profit-taking that began in Monday’s Access tradingsession, continued yesterday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.Locals were seen as aggressive sellers, unloading positions aheadof today’s storage report. The July contract finished at $2.393,down 4.9 cents for the day.
Lower Cash Quotes Take Cue From Tuesday Screen
As sources had expected, the prolonged decline of the Junefutures contract throughout Tuesday’s trading made its influencefelt in softer cash prices Wednesday. But cash losses weredecidedly modest, with nearly all points registering drops of only2-4 cents. Futures offered only a tiny downtick of less than apenny as further guidance Wednesday.