Category: Weekly Detail

Market Action “Rhymes”

Weekly Continuous

On Tuesday the market further expanded recent range reversal, after a gap lower opening when trading resumed for the holiday shortened week, and Wednesday’s upside follow through took March to test the zone of resistance between the December and January highs ($4.201 – $4.367). My idea was that a test of that resistance would be an “unlikely event”– I was wrong.

On Wednesday prompt gas posted a new high daily close, $4.280 v $4.258 on 01/16…the highest daily close since 12/30/22 (just before then prompt February ’23 gapped lower to begin the New Year). March extended the rally as high as an after market, Globex trade to $4.476 closing a long – standing gap on the monthly charts left at the beginning of ’23, before a reversal lower. The week’s ending close after another daily gain, $4.243…notably within the resistance previously described, was the highest in twenty – six months.

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Interesting Battle On Highs

Weekly Continuous

Spoke repeatedly last week about the lack of a higher high for the March contract and the potential impact on the price run of late. Interestingly enough though, was the market closed on the highs of the Week (see chart above). In order to trade a higher high in Feb– the market will need to trade above the Jan high, and since 2009 the calendar January has been exceeded during February twice, 2014 and 2021. In the former the February high ($6.493) was not exceeded until January ’22. The 2021 February high ($3.316) was the high until the following June.

All the technical factors suggest that March will remain “inside” the range traded during January pending a retest of support presented by the December/January lows ($2.977 – $2.990). That said, the sponsorship that propelled March to an $.80/dt rally from the calendar January ending low was surprising.

On Thursday, more than a million contracts changed hands in the natural gas market with the prompt posting a daily gain of only $.063. The 50 – day SMA of volume is 600,638. A principle of technical analysis is that result must reflect effort…in my view it did not.

Over the history of natural gas trading there have not been very many days that volume was a million contracts or more, with 02/13/25 was the ninth time. All of the first eight either preceded or coincided with at least a moderately significant event. Should you be interested in the others send me an email and I will reply. It is also relatively rare for a volume spike to occur with natural gas in a definable range…and ever rarer that an increase in open interest accompanied the volume spike. A guess is that buyers were falling all over themselves to secure supplies when the collapse into and following February expiration was not extended…I think those outlooks will be corrected in the coming few days. Continue to expect the March contract closing the remainder of the gap left on 02/03 ($3. 118 – $3.161).

Major Support:,$2.727-$2.784, $2.648, $2.39, $2.35, $2.112,
Minor Support : $3.34, $3.167, $3.00-$2.95, $2.914, $1.856,$1.89-$1.856
Major Resistance: $3.829, $3.92, $4.00, $4.201, $4.378-$4.394, $4.461,

Intermediate Support Holds

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.

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Temps and Storage Allow Weekly Close at $4.00

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.

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Another Failure at Resistance With Divergences

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.

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Higher Weekly Close

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.

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Price Action Conforms to Precedent

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.

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Welcome 2025

Weekly Continuous

I mentioned in the Daily last week that I was going to quote a wonderful historical analyst (Larry Marshall) who has been following the gas market as long as I have. Here are some of the highlights of his thoughts……

Sometime in the late ‘90s I noticed a tendency of consistent price change at the beginning of each calendar year…almost without exception. Because of the consistency of the tendency and disproportional importance relative to the other eleven calendar months I came to call it the January Phenomenon. Each year about this time I write a summary of those year ending/beginning events…the following is not a lot different than more than twenty – five or so (I lose count) that preceded it.

Almost since the beginning of recorded time (which in natural gas trading for convenience begins in December ’91 – January ’92), late December/early January highs or lows have consistently been more significant going forward into each New Year than the endings/beginnings of other calendar months.

To summarize the 33 years ending since 1991 – 92:

Twenty three of the thirty – three have begun with a gap (although a couple of times the gap occurred during the last or next to last trading day of December).

At the end of ‘23/beginning of ’24 there were two gaps. The first, on 12/28 was an expiration gap…February was offered at a discount to January ($2.536 v $2.621). The second was on the first trading day of the year. Both were quickly closed.

Eight times (five of which began with a gap) the high of the year traded during January, most often during the first week.

Seven times (five of which began with a gap) the low of the year traded during January, most often during the first week.

In the other seventeen years (now 18), thirteen of which began with a gap, either the high of low for January (and in several cases neither) would not be violated for a period of months but once either was, it was consequential…setting the direction of gas prices for an extended period.

The January ’23 low traded on 01/31 at $2.037. That low was violated on 02/01. Prompt gas traded lower until late March, falling another 27%.

During the six years beginning in ’18 and ending in ’23, the January low was the low of the year twice (’21 and ’22). The January high was the high in ’19. In 2018 the January high was not exceeded until November, in ’20 during August. During ’23 the January high…$3.392 traded on 01/09 (the sixth trading day of the year) was not exceeded until November 21st. Prompt gas has closed above that high twice, the last time was 12/12 at $3.455…the highest daily close since 11/03/23.

All things considered, 2024 conformed pretty closely to the expectation flowing from the January Phenomenon. We are not sure what the 2025 January Phenomenon will provide but I do find it interesting that a gap has already traded on the 27th (last Monday) meeting the historical norm. That gap remains open and should be considered as support.

Major Support:,$2.727-$2.784, $2.648, $2.39, $2.35, $2.112,
Minor Support : $3.39-$3.31, $3.167, $3.00-$2.95, $2.914, $1.856,$1.89-$1.856
Major Resistance: $3.631-$3.681, $3.829, $3.92, $4.00

Lack of Commitment

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.

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Back Into the Range

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.

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