Wasted

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) wasted little time inpicking successors to fill positions that were left vacant by thesudden departures of two staff members.

The market wasted little time retracing Thursday’s losses inactive trading on Friday by gapping higher on the open beforeexploding upward amid growing concerns of more supply disruptionsdue to storms in the Gulf and Atlantic. The October contract spikedas high as $2.35 on a wave of panicked buying early in theafternoon on Friday as traders were already facing supplyinterruptions associated with Tropical Depression 8. However, byearly afternoon traders were shifting their concern to the lessimminent, but potentially more severe Georges still located in theAtlantic. That allowed traders to take profits ahead of the weekendand October to slip lower. October finished up 12.2 cents to $2.26.

The futures market wasted little time in continuing higherMonday, gapping higher on the open en route to a technicalcorrection that left the September contract up 16.4 cents to settleat $2.041. Sources said Monday’s rally was follow-through buying onthe heels of Friday’s strong close coupled with “nervousspeculators” covering sizeable short positions. Estimated volumeconfirmed the active trading with an estimated 83,239 contractschanging hands.

The futures market wasted little time continuing lower yesterdayadding to losses registered Wednesday evening following the releaseof the weekly AGA storage report. That report, showing alarger-than-expected 93 Bcf injection gave storage bears somethingto chew on. The August contract opened near its high then tumbled9.9 cents to settle at $2.132 in active trading yesterday.