Daily Call

The Warning Came on Monday

Daily Continuous

The trade on Monday sent out a warning shot that prices will head higher, perhaps not all week but for the upcoming weeks, expect a solid test of $10.00. Buyers are coming ahead of support zones and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of sellers at resistance zones. Interesting week we are in– tread carefully.

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Correction Started — Then Got Lost

Daily Continuation

As expected a correction to test support levels below commenced on the open and ran out of sellers by mid morning. Pay attention to that detail over the next couple of days. If prices can’t test some semi-important support levels before buyers come in — my expectations may not be met. This week will prove very important to trade going into expiration and the seasonal weakness associated with Labor Day.

Major Support:$8.04, $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Late Summer Range Continues

Weekly Continuation

Since the June Q2 high it has been expected that prompt gas would define a summer trading range not from the July low to the June high (nearly $4 between the upper and lower extremes) and perhaps the trade in the last couple of weeks has develop a narrower range. While the question is not completely settled, the rallies of the last two weeks go a long way toward tightening the lower boundary of that range just above $7.500 and the June highs. Would continue to expect a tighter range to be defined.

Calendar August (with Sept as prompt) has historically been a period of seasonal weakness, occasionally spilling over to the first part of September. Even in the last two years when there has been counter – seasonal strength during September’s tenure the prompt traded down from highs in early August. Last year prompt September traded from $4.205 down to $3.734 on 08/19.

Volatility remains extreme–the total range traded this week was $1.387…the weekly ATR (average true range of the last fifteen weeks) is $1.392. A year ago the 15 – week average was $.271. Volume was slightly higher (25,000 average daily) but open interest continued to decline slightly. A large portion of the declines in OI was Thursday on a high volume day as prices rallied from $8.22 to the week’s high just short of $9.00 after the storage inventory release.

Continue to expect higher prices during Q4 & potentially into Q1. It is worth remembering that the rallies from Q3 lows have averaged about 74% over the last twenty years (60% over the last ten, 76% over the last five) and that Q4 highs have been higher than Q2 highs fourteen of twenty times. Q4 highs have been higher than Q3 highs in every year since ’00 except ’01, ’08, ’10, ’11 and ‘14.

Major Support: $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

Don’t Believe Retests of Support are Over

Daily Continuous

Not sure the market will continue gains — but rather history suggests that this is seasonal period of weakness at the end of August and early Sept. There will be another test of support — but the support level may by higher ($7.50 per the Weekly analysis). Whether it can garner the support from there will remain a question. Sunday night trade suggests additional weakness– but that may just be the normal Sunday noise.

Major Support: $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Supply and Demand Near Expectations

Daily Continuous

Not too sure what to make of the trade yesterday. The Storage release came well within expectations (according to the press reports) only to go nowhere on the release. Then prices started a solid onslaught of gains through the day– challenging the $9.00 late in the morning. From the tech side — rally to the resistance with a brief break out above only to fail at the next level of resistance and close just above the previous resistance zone — not what I would suggest as compelling rally for higher prices.

Major Support: $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Prices Continue to Advance

Daily Continuation

Nice gains off of the rebound — now the market needs to digest the battle between dry gas production vs demand and LNG– commonly referred to as the storage release. Technical data points continue to support the rally, but as the chart above shows the rallies have run into profit taking and a lack of commitment to higher prices.

Major Support: $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Trend Line and Moving Averages Hold– this time

Daily Continuous

Discussed the support zones facing the market and on cue prices tested the levels. Still there just a little higher on the rebound — not sure the area will hold all week.

Major Support: $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Prices Decline to Trend Line Support

Daily Continuous

Solid test of the support that has basically held the close for the last month (50 Day SMA)– and now we need to watch what price action occurs. A break below will bring addition covering of length, likely expanding the recent range down to $7.00 ish.

Major Support: $7.55, $7.14, $7.078, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support:$7.35, $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

Consolidation — Not Out of the Possibilities

Daily Continuation

Prices performed a brief correction last week to rebound and towards the end of the trade week started to behave similar to a price consolidation pattern. We will see this week but the normal Sunday excitement was muted last night.

Major Support: $8.02, $7.55, $7.14, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support: $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057

To read The Daily Call you must be a subscriber (Current members sign in here. ) Start your subscription today.

There May Be a Range Developing

Weekly Continuation

Expiring August booked a gain during the final days of its tenure while last week’s continuation decline to a lower weekly close produced a technically negative weekly reversal bar but with lower weekly volume. The expectation of lower offers when trading resumed Monday was fulfilled by a gap lower being quickly filled, but the stage was set for lower trade and the market was compliant toward targeted support. On Wednesday, September traded to a low of $7.550 (just about matching a 50% retracement of the rally from the July low to the August options expiration day high was $7.53) and the 50 – day SMA of September gas at $7.5494. After a brief test of the mathematical and moving average support prompt gas rallied $.93 in one hour, before fading to close $.56/dt higher, basically offsetting the previous day’s $.577 decline. September lost another $.202 on Thursday and Friday, ending the week $.1650 below the close a week earlier. Do you start to develop a sense that this market in volatile state going nowhere slowly.

Open interest and volume were both marginally higher for the week which is a technical negative for prices in the upcoming week. The decline from the June high to the July low was an intermediate term downtrend within the long – term uptrend. That said, the late July trade to a higher high that intermediate term downtrend has morphed into an exceptionally wide trading range. Rarely if ever has substantial support and resistance been so well defined…or so far apart.

Major Support: $8.02, $7.55, $7.14, $6.88, $6.754,$6.38, $6.02, $5.623,
Minor Support: $7.41, $6.42, $5.548, $5.40-$5.45
Major Resistance: $8.95, $8.996-$9.057