And so has natgas, (+46% since Thanksgiving) which I have been nagging people to get into in some form, futures, producers, pipelines etc. (I am in futures heavy, as you know) for some time now.
I did take my own advice, and natgas has been doing just as I thought it would>
Message 19578258
Natural Gas Price Soars 46 Percent
By BRAD FOSS
AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)--A 46 percent surge in the price of natural gas since Thanksgiving has been so startling, one analyst has suggested the futures markets should be investigated.
Natural gas for January delivery rose surged 60.6 cents, or 9 percent, Friday to $7.221 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the highest close since Feb. 28, when prices settled at $8.10, and was $2.30 above the Nov. 26 close.
As a result, consumers could see higher energy bills as early as next month, analysts said. Any increase won't be nearly as severe as the recent run-up in futures prices because utilities sign long-term contracts for the bulk of their winter fuel over the summer.
Explanations for the rally vary, but traders are virtually unanimous in acknowledging that they were caught off guard when prices first began rising sharply at the beginning of the month. Sure, the barometer dropped and snowflakes fell--and another winter storm could hit the Northeast this weekend--but the nation's supply of natural gas is adequate for this time of year, analysts say.
``Any of us that are in the business and see the amount of natural gas in storage argues for a much lower price,'' said John Kilduff, senior energy analyst at Fimat USA in New York.
Kilduff said, however, that two consecutive weeks of higher-than-anticipated consumption is forcing traders who expected prices to be relatively low this winter to cover their bets. ``It's a brutal free-market economy and I think fears of supply (shortages) going forward are what's being priced into this market,'' Kilduff said.
Ed Silliere, a trader at Energy Merchant LLC in New York, said the markets are also factoring in the expectation of higher demand stemming from an improving economy.
``You've got guys holding onto supply who don't want to give it up because they think supplies might be tight later in winter,'' and that's forcing buyers to bid up the price, Silliere said.
Maybe so, but Oppenheimer & Company senior energy analyst Fadel Gheit said natural gas price levels and volatility don't seem consistent with market fundamentals.
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(((Oppy must be on the wrong side of the trade,
those stupid bastards!! LOL....)))
They never bitch when they are rolling in profits.....
So now that things aren't going their way, they cry like little girls....
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``I would like to see (New York Attorney General) Elliott Spitzer take a closer look at the market,'' Gheit said, adding that residential and industrial consumers are paying more for no good reason. ``Gas prices in my view should not be at $7,'' Gheit said. ``There is no supply shortage.'' |
