Nat-Gas Takes Worst Drop in 60 Days

With some November futures expiring, natural gas and crude hit skid row today. After looking at the tapes the drop in oil was almost 2% but the drop in natural gas was by more than 4%. This appears to be the worst drop in natural gas prices in two months. A report earlier showed that natural gas front month futures were down 4.6%. A look at the ino.com pricing today showed that the Jan-2013 natural gas futures were down by 4.14% at $3.902 today.

After hitting a 2012 high, some of the selling in natural gas is being tied to profit taking. Natural gas speculators and those using natural gas will have to pay close attention to the weather forecasts in the next few weeks ahead of the real cold weather season. They will also have to pay attention to the issues surrounding coal and switching ahead as well.

The United States Natural Gas (NYSEMKT: UNG) was down 3.9% at $22.18 on last look and the controversial Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) is down by “only” 1% at $20.60. It is hard to imagine it, but Chesapeake Energy is now up 50% from the lowest dog day prices from the Aubrey McClendon debacles earlier this year. Chesapeake has traded in a 52-week range of $13.32 to $29.87.

JON C. OGG