Natural gas prices today

What No One Else Has Caught... Yet

I'll make this short.
Here’s what no one else will tell you with regards to natural gas: Buy it — or miss the historical September run.
You see, it doesn’t matter what the bears say. It’s time to buy natural gas while no one’s looking.
Just as I called the $4 bottom on natural gas on May 19, I’m calling for natural gas to rally once again…
“You’ve heard it all before: Supply is outpacing demand… Our ability to horizontally drill for shale gas has made the supply picture seem unlimited... the short-term outlook is bleak,” I said back in May.
“But those are all fine examples of herd-mentality thinking. Contrarians, like us, though, are buying hand over fist.”
And we were right. Natural gas would spike well above $5 in coming weeks.
But, as expected, the bears are coming out again as natural gas pulls back. And as a result, they might miss out on the buying opportunity of a lifetime.
This may be because they don’t want to watch the charts:
Notice that every September — even in the steep 2008 sell-off — natural gas has spiked big.
And the reason for this annual spike is simple: Summer is typically the worst time for natural gas consumption, setting up the perfect trade for natural gas stocks around the month of September as consumption turns up.
Last summer, for example, natural gas suffered. But once September rolled around, natural gas roared from $2.50 to more than $5 by January 2010.
And it will do the same thing this year.
In fact I’m buying as much natural gas as I can right now in Pure Asset Trader… and I advise you to do the same.
But how do you know when exactly to pull the trigger? 
One way is to watch for MACD (moving average convergence divergence) and DMI (directional movement indicator) to crossover and agree. When they do, it's time to pull the trigger.
Let’s start with the Dow, as an example...

Take a look at the MACD and DMI on this chart of the Dow.
Notice in this chart the noticeable drop from 11,200. As soon as the Dow began to show signs of cracking at the top, DMI- (red line) crossed above DMI+ (blue line).  At the same time — and this is important — MACD (12, 26), the blue line, crossed under MACD (9).
When the two agreed, we had confirmation of a big move on the way, and the market collapsed. Used alone, these two indicators — when in agreement — are powerful tools.
Here’s how we’ve used them to find natural gas stocks.
Knowing that natural gas stocks historically pop in September, we can also use MACD and DMI to determine our exact entry price. Let’s use PetroQuest (PQ) as an example here.

Notice in the chart that MACD was already displaying a bullish signal (MACD blue line was above MACD red line). We just needed DMI+ (blue line) to cross above DMI- (red line) and we had bullish confirmation for upside.
Once we got that in late August/early September in 2009, we bought and watched the stock pop from $4 lows to more than $8 in less than two months.
A 100% gain in no time at all…
It can be that easy.
In the next few weeks, we'll be issuing a brand-new report that details more quick-gain investment opportunities... So keep an eye out on your inbox.

Stay Ahead of the Curve,

Ian L. Cooper

Energy and Capital

Exxon mobil pay

Exxon Mobil has seen its latest quarterly profits jump 55% after it benefited from higher oil prices and increased production.

Exxon is benefiting from higher oil prices, which are also increasing the cost of petrol for drivers

The world's largest oil company made a net profit of $7.35bn (£4.6bn) in the three months to 30 September, up from $4.73bn for the same period in 2009.

Its revenues totalled $95.3bn, up 16% from a year before.

Exxon's results come on the same day that Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell reported profits of $3.5bn, up 17%.

The latest profits from Exxon beat market expectations.

Exxon chairman Rex Tillerson said the firm's oil production levels were 20% higher than a year ago.

He added that the strong results had come despite "continuing economic uncertainty".

Source

Gas boom catches community off guard

Traffic in downtown Towanda is one example of how a drilling boom taxes a town

TOWANDA, Pa. (CNNMoney.com) -- Downtown Towanda is literally choking in traffic.

The town, some 60 miles northwest of Scranton, is ground zero in Pennsylvania's development of natural gas found in shale rock, a boom that's spreading to many parts of the nation.

But this shale gas, too costly to develop just a few years ago, requires vast amounts of water to tap -- water that must be trucked in.

It's estimated that each well requires 1,300 truck trips. Statewide, 2,000 such wells have been drilled in the last five years. Another 3,000 are slated.

In Towanda, that means it's nearly impossible to cross the once-sleepy main street without waiting on a parade of tractor trailers.

"You used to be able to go out in the middle of the road and take a nap," said Joe Snell, a local welding supply salesman. "Not anymore."

The wells also require thousands of workers. Some are hired locally, but many come in from out of state.

Living amid an energy boom

Managing a boom. The boom is providing a serious jolt to the local economy, but it's also causing serious problems.

Traffic is described as out of hand and there are concerns environmental regulations are not up to snuff. And with the big influx of workers to the area, government services are strained.

"It's stimulated the economy," said Mike Holt, owner of the Red Rose, a downtown diner. "But it seems like the concerns of the community have been ignored in the process."

Some lawmakers in the region have been fighting hard for a special tax on natural gas to help alleviate some of the problems. Such severance taxes are common in other energy-producing regions.

Mark Smith, a commissioner in Bradford County, where Towanda sits, said calls to the local 911 line have risen 30% in the last year -- mostly traffic related issues with the out-of towners.

The transplants also use the local courts, so much so that an extra janitor had to be hired to keep the bathrooms clean. Ten percent of the jail population is now non-local.

And while hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing into the county, two local economic development officials struggle to guide that cash and help local businesses get a slice of the money.

"The services we provide are strained," said Smith. "I don't think Pennsylvania was prepared for this, environmentally or financially."

The state House of Representatives recently passed a severance tax, but it faces opposition in the other chamber and from locals in Bradford County who fear such a tax will crimp gas development.

"The size and the scope of how fast this is occurring concerns me," said Doug McLinko, another Bradford country commissioner. "But I don't want to hurt this through taxation and regulation. I see the good it's doing for families."

McLinko says the school districts and local governments are benefiting from the increases in property and income taxes the boom is bringing.

As for other concerns, like skyrocketing rents, he doesn't want the government to get involved.

"Let the free market work," he said. "If there's demand, there will be supply. I'm not going to muck it up with people's tax dollars."

Protecting the water. The other major concern among locals is the water.

To extract the gas, thousands of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected into the ground at high pressure -- a process known as fracking.

As this boom has taken off, many people have found their well water contaminated.

State environmental officials stress that the problems are the result of fracking spills at the surface, or in improperly cased wells. It's not the actual fracking process itself, they say, which takes place thousands of feet underground.

The state recently tightened its requirements for well casings and the treatment of frack fluids and other contiminated water that come out of the well, as well as how much water gas companies can take from rivers.

But there's still a sense that the state was late to the game, and didn't go far enough. That's true not just of Pennsylvania, but most states where this is occurring, which is why many are calling for federal oversight.

"The states are absolutely unprepared to deal with this kind of onslaught," said Dave Hamilton, director of global warming and energy projects at the Sierra Club. "There needs to be some kind of backstop."

Many outside analysts say the development of shale gas can withstand additional regulations, although the industry say more regulation would slow development and cost jobs.

To that, many say tough.

Kate Sinding, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Pennsylvania should require companies to undertake more stringent precautions.

"These are not cheap," she said. "But they should pay for this stuff."

Source CNN Money.com