Monday, January 6, 2014

"Natural Gas Fluctuates Amid Forecasts for Fading Cold Weather"

Feb. futures up 1.3 cents at $4.3170
From BusinessWeek:
Natural gas fluctuated in New York amid speculation that extreme U.S. cold this week will be followed by milder weather, cutting demand for the heating fuel. 

Gas moved between gains and losses as MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said the coldest weather in decades this week will give way to above-normal readings from Jan. 11 through Jan. 15. Chicago may have a high of minus 9 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celsius) today, 41 degrees below normal, before reaching 41 degrees on Jan. 15, 10 above average, according to AccuWeather Inc.

“That cold weather we are experiencing at the moment will probably not be sustained for several days,” said Tom Saal, senior vice president of energy trading at FCStone Latin America LLC in Miami. “The cold weather we had a few weeks ago showed the market could survive adequately.”...MORE
Today's action via FinViz:

 

Here's the temperature anomaly map (bottom) for the next week from WX.org, still a bit below normal in much of the natural gas using areas: