Natural gas futures picked up some gains to kick off April, buoyed by a bullish US government weekly supply report. Natural gas investors will take anything they can get as demand is projected to be limited this month amid warmer temperatures and industrial spring maintenance. While the bears seem to be in control of the market, bulls have been attempting to take over. May natural gas futures surged $0.046, or 1.76%, to $2.654 per million British thermal units (btu) at 14:40 GMT on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas is poised for a weekly gain of 0.4%, but it recorded a monthly loss of more than 5%. Year-to-date, the so-called bridge fuel is up nearly 4%. According to the US Energy Information … [Read More...]

“Smart money” commercial hedgers are giving the all-clear sign for an equities rally, according to Friday’s Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.Commercial traders in S&P 500 futures and options continued a seven-week build-up in their net position as a portion of total open interest.Their positioning has flipped my signal from bearish, which it has been since April 14, to bullish, with a trade delay of two weeks. That means the signal takes effect the open of trading the week of June 16.See my latest signals table for more details on trader positioning in the S&P 500 and the other nine markets I trade using the free weekly COT reports.My signal for the BKX U.S. Bank … [Read More...]

My natural gas signal goes to cash on this morning’s open of trading, according to the latest Commitments of Traders data.I’ll be back here shortly with a new post and an updated latest signals table. [Read More...]

Natural gas futures are rallying on Thursday after the US government reported a much larger-than-expected supply withdrawal. The energy commodity has been enjoying small gains over the last week, with bulls beginning to build their positions ahead of the much-anticipated summer demand. Can natural gas sustain the momentum? Or will investors sell the mini-rally? April natural gas futures surged $0.031, or 1.21%, to $2.589 per million British thermal units (btu) at 14:40 GMT on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas is on track for a weekly gain of 2%, bringing its year-to-date gain of more than 1%. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic inventories of natural gas declined by 36 billion cubic feet for the week ending … [Read More...]