Category: Weekly Detail

Weekly Continuous

After breaking through the support trend line from the October and December lows (discussed last week from the support standpoint) on Monday the soon to expire prompt left a small gap to the downside when trading resumed. February managed to close that gap but could rally no further and (as mentioned) the trend line could not hold. With volume increasing, the continuation trend line…which had guided successive prompts higher since the October low, was violated on a daily (weekly also) closing basis and becomes resistance in the future.

Since prompt December traded to $3.563 in mid – November with a weekly volume of 3,830,545 contracts– higher highs have been traded with less volume, this behavior is considered reliable volume divergence. The week of the last of the higher highs, 3,426,087 contracts changed hands…and interestingly traded on the anniversary of the high close during January ’24. In addition to the volume divergence, the weekly RSI had failed to confirm either of the last three weekly closing higher highs.

Daily Continuation

Weekly Continuous

The most interesting near term technical factor is the trend line rising from the continuation October low (see Daily chart above). Similar trend lines rising from the December lows of February and March gas (See March gas below) were tested during the past week. Each time their recovery from the rising support attracted less volume.

Going into expiration period over the next three days. Expect the trend line to continue to guide prompt gas higher toward resistance defined by the zone between the December and January highs. Should the trend line (support) violation break — it likely to announce the beginning of the decline toward a late Q1/early Q2 seasonal low. Expect significant moderation of price as we progress through Q1. The average decline from Q4/Q1 highs to late Q1/early Q2 lows is a little more than 40% for successive prompt months, less for deferred months. There is likely to be a substantial “expiration” gap after February expires. That gap will provide the market important resistance to an extension of any rally in March gas.

Weekly Continuous

Prompt with a gap and strength but did not remain above the December high for very long and ended the week at $3.916 with trading volume substantially less than on 12/30 (685,311 v 998,839), which creates another volume divergence. Not give up it performed another try on Thursday, leaving the prompt at the highest close ($4.258) since the last trading day of 2022 but again volume significantly lagged that traded at the December high and February fell to finish the week lower without testing Monday’s gap higher. While prompt gas continues to work higher the lower weekly close was the third in the last four weeks.

Prompt February was the only monthly contract to finish the week with a loss. Prompt in waiting March gained $.081, reducing February’s premium to $.469 from last week’s peak of $.591. A year ago when February went off the board at $2.490 March ’24 was $2.054 and was never able to make up much of that discount. Trading the high of its tenure on 02/01 at $2.168 before falling to $1.502. Will see if history is going to rhyme.

Weekly Continuous

A significant technical factor was Friday’s higher daily close, which leaves the daily closing trend intact. The trend of a series of higher lows…and now a higher high since prompt November closed at $2.258 on October 17th. This week’s close at $3.989 validates last week’s higher low at $3.354 and suggests trend continuation. The higher weekly close (see Chart above)…the highest since the beginning of 2023 (and above the 2016 weekly closing high) tends to confirm the breakout from a lengthy flat base. There is little definable weekly closing resistance other than a low close in February ’22.

At the low daily close in October the daily ATR (a measure of volatility that is essentially the average range of the last fifteen days), was $.119 and has more than tripled since then to $.359. Comparatively, during the rally from the April low to the June Q2 high the daily ATR increased from $.091 to $.205. Following the January ’24 high the peak was $.312 (the peak of the ATR usually lags the price high). The highest calculation of the last several years was $.769 in June ’22.

Weekly Continuous

During the week ending 12/20 January broke out after a volatile consolidation period that followed the November high test of the upper boundary of a trading range that had confined successive prompts for nearly two years. The prompt closed at $3.748, the highest price since week ending 01/03/23. Price was higher but volume wasn’t (that sends a red flag to some technical analysts) to cast a skeptical eye. Over the entire 34 years history of natural gas trading there had never been an “inside” December (where for the entire month of December prompt gas remained between the price extremes traded during calendar November) and needless to say, there still has not been.

During week ending 12/27 January extended its price spike to $4.01 (the first trade to/through $4 since 01/09/23) before fading to go off the board at $3.644 (the highest monthly settlement since January ’23 at $4.709). February wasted little time before extending the rally to $4.201 with nearly a million shares changing hands on its first day as prompt but did not end the day (12/30) with a higher daily close than 12/24 another in a series of momentum divergences (a higher high (daily and weekly) without a higher close.

Weekly Continuous

January rallied nearly$ .50/dt…where it failed again at its 40 – day SMA and just short of the November high ($3.559 v$3.563). Prompt gas traded a range of $.490 between Tuesday and Thursday with January closing $.02 above its opening for the week ($2.280 v$2.260). For the second time in three weeks that prompt gas has closed a few ticks higher than it opened, continuing the interpretation of an indication of indecision.

Average daily volume spiked…with an estimated 3.85mm contracts changing hands (v 2.41mm last week). Increasing volume as price works higher is technically constructive.

Weekly Continuous

January fell to test the target zone between $2.950 – $3.050 (mentioned in last week’s Daily), which corresponded to the upper boundary of the trading range constructed between early September and mid – November. The current prompt bounced from that clearly defined support, retested, then well – bid into the close, finishing the week above it. Prompt January closed $.289 lower, the first continuation decline in seven weeks. Average daily volume fell nearly 25,000 contracts from last week’s holiday volume (which was about 80,000/day less than the previous week). Declining volume as price falls is technically constructive (suggesting that the price decline is more corrective in nature. Accelerating volume would indicate that at least an intermediate term high is in place and unlikely to be retested. Total open interest for the five days (not from Thursday through Thursday because of the holiday) fell an estimated 7,500 contracts which is also technically constructive.

Typically the price of prompt gas falls from a mid – November/pre – Thanksgiving high (this year on 11/22 at $3.563) to an early December low. Wednesday’s low (12/04) at $2.977 has the earmarks of a typical early winter low.

Weekly Continuous

December began the week with a gap higher ($2.748 – $2.769) and extending its rally to test conventional, moving average and mathematical resistance (all around $3.00).

With volume increasing (average daily volume was 180,000 contracts higher) and open interest declining (total open interest fell 57,000+ contracts from last weeks all – time high) suggested the potential for a spirited round of short covering. Unfortunately for the bulls, December failed at that resistance and declined to close Monday’s gap. Trade up to and failure at a nearly identical price in consecutive months suggests a textbook “double top”, not unlike the twin lows of then prompt November at $2.210 on 10/21 and $2.200 on 10/29, and previously before that prompt October at $2.214 on 09/11, $2.229 on 09/12 and $2.223 on 09/19, clearly defining the low end of trade range.

Weekly Continuous

December, which was awarded $.559 premium when November went off the board immediately began to forfeit that premium, reducing it to $.286 by Friday 11/01. December proceeded to gap lower to begin its first full week as prompt. Opening at $2.560 the new prompt traded to $2.514 before reversing higher. The $.281 range traded 11/04 was the widest daily range since a series of them in January (including 01/09 when a range of $.508 led to the to date high of 2024 at $3.392).

Despite the reversal with the highest volume of the week by a considerable margin, December was unable to build on the impressive recovery. Contracting ranges were traded between $2.818 and $2.643 with the low of that four day period traded just before the close on Friday. After trading a series of higher lows during ’21 & ’22 (the last of which was during 10/22) lower lows were traded in March ’23 and March ’24. While not definitive of the beginning of an intermediate/long – term uptrend significant higher lows have been traded during April, July/August and October.