We interrupt our regularly scheduled discussion of energy efficiency because things got interesting this past week.

This is a weekly newsletter, and life in the NYMEX is measured in 15-minute increments, so we sometimes miss out on the pulse-pounding excitement that happens on the trading floor (indeed, much of the activity in 2008 was better described as pulse-stopping….). This past week was a case in point; in fact, the wrap up to this particular incident is playing out even as we write this.

If you’ve been following the NYMEX numbers and reading our commentary, a casual glance at yesterday’s close, listed below, is bound to provoke a response of “what the hey?….!” We’re up about 15% across the board from last week. This after months of constant drift downward.

Actually, that rise in price happened mostly during the space of a few hours last Thursday….while we were writing last week’s newsletter. After a short burst, prices pretty much stabilized for the week.

What happened?

Check last week’s weekly storage report, and you’ll see there was a withdrawal of 24 Bcf. Expectations in the industry had been for a withdrawal of around 30 Bcf. That 6 Bcf difference (don’t forget, we’re talking 6 Bcf out of 1,650 Bcf in storage, or about .36%) set off the price spike.

If you’re thinking “that’s nuts,” you’ve got a lot of company. Many experts were scratching their heads over it. There was some talk about natural gas prices “correcting” to match rises in oil prices, but that analysis felt a lot like grasping at straws.

However, add in what’s going on right now (see next paragraph), and we believe that there’s a clear lesson to be learned here.

Check out this week’s storage numbers, which were released at 10:30 EST this morning. Natural gas is back to being injected INTO storage. Care to guess how the NYMEX is reacting?

If you guessed that prices dropped right back under $4.00, then you’ve been paying attention. NYMEX may rally a bit before the day is done, but there was a precipitous drop (it looked a bit like the price fell off a cliff) immediately after the release of the report.

What this means to you. Have you ever watched the finals of the 100-meter dash at the Olympics? These elite athletes get over-excited and over-amped and “jump the gun” on the start.

You remember all those speculators who helped drive natural gas prices up into double figures last Summer? The ones who fled the market as prices dropped? They’re still out there. They’re still looking for quick and easy short-term profits. They consider themselves the elites of their field.

As the AIG situation showed us, the people who helped engineer our current financial troubles haven’t learned anything. They’re just waiting for the sign that it’s time to do exactly what they were doing before.

Last week, a bunch of these over-excited, over-amped investors jumped the gun. Just couldn’t risk being the second investor in when the market bottoms. They hung for a week, looked at this week’s report, and went “oops.”

Are you bottom watching? Are you looking for that “sure sign” that the market has hit bottom before you think about securing your next energy contract? If so, you’ve got a lot of company. And the company you’re keeping is much, much quicker than you are.

At Cost Containment Intl., we’re proud of how quickly we can expedite the bidding process, but compared to the 15-minute time span of the NYMEX, energy contracts move at a glacial pace. The bottom is not when you want to be making your move, because that price is going to be long gone before you’ve even seen your first offer. There are a lot of people out there ready and waiting to bid prices up again, and they’re getting pretty hair-trigger about it. You’ll still be sitting in the blocks while the other guys are halfway down the track.

Meanwhile, if you can get your head around a timeframe longer than 15 minutes….say, three years or more…it’s time to talk long-term energy strategy. Electric and natural gas providers are loosening up for contracts beyond 24 months. We’re not just talking your current contracts. We’re talking your next contract. Cost Containment Intl. is finding good opportunities beyond 2010, and you want to be in on them. Security is a nice place to be right now.

Trust us: this is one race that’s a lot more fun when you’re watching it from the stands.

Check the NYMEX