Monday, December 16, 2013

Hedge Funds Pile Into Natural Gas, Naturally Futures Tank

From Bloomberg:
Dec 16, 2013 6:42 AM CT
Hedge Funds’ Natural Gas Bets Jump as Thermometer Drops: Energy 
Hedge funds got more bullish on natural gas, betting the most on rising prices in 11 weeks as cold weather in the U.S. diminished fuel inventories.

Money managers boosted net-long positions by 44 percent in the seven days ended Dec. 10, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The total was the most since Sept. 24. Bullish wagers increased for a third week.

Gas surged 6.6 percent during the report week as forecasts showed widespread below-normal temperatures. MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland, predicted it would be colder than average in most of the contiguous U.S. from Dec. 23 through Dec. 27. A government report on Dec. 5 showed a weekly drop in gas supply that surpassed analysts’ estimates.

“The weather has been incredibly cold,” said Teri Viswanath, director of commodities strategy at BNP Paribas SA in New York. “The expectation is that we’re going to see stockpiles continue to be depleted by this boost in heating demand, so investors are increasing bullish bets on the natural gas futures contract.”...MUCH MORE
Our recent comments:
Friday
Weekly EIA Natural Gas Supply/Demand Report
Soooooo, what would you say to a quarter-billion BCF storage draw in next week's report?
It was probably closer to 200 but we are hearing the larger number....
Thursday
Natural Gas Sets New High For 2013
And we were out at $4.2730.
buc, buc, buc.
I obviously don't know how to spell chicken sounds either.
Top-tick $4.434; previous annual high $4.408 on April 19.
More after the storage report but for now, although I feel a short coming on, nothing done.
buc, buc, buc....
Tuesday
Natural Gas: As the Traders Become Accustomed to the Cold, That's a Wrap

$4.2110 last and look at the gap, that will get filled, the question is when: