Deal of the week for November 20, 2008 -
Natural Gas: we locked a fixed rate for 16 months covering 2 winter periods (2008 & 2009). We got him a price that was below the historical 4-year average NYMEX. He now has the “insurance” that his natural gas risk is stabilized for that term. Savings and stability in one package. You might be next week’s featured deal: give me a call and let’s see what we can do.
Bullish vs. Bearish
Hands up – how many of you actually understand the jargon used to describe trends in the Natural Gas Market? (That’s the great thing about the Web: no one is watching you.) For those who are wondering:
Bullish means the market is being PUSHED upward. Good for investors, not so good for you.
Bearish means that the market is being PULLED downward. Investors are not so happy, you should be thinking bargains.
Problem with both these terms is that they are used to describe “trends’ in the market, and at the moment, a “trend” last for about five minutes. Volatility is synonymous with the Natural Gas Market. Customers ask me to please lock their price when the market hits “absolute bottom”. That’s like throwing a snowball at a speeding train and crowning the engineer. Our goal is to hit the train…and not to still be holding the snowball as the train fades into the distance.
Look back at my deal of the week: it’s for sixteen months. Right now, everyone is following the five-minute trends. I’m working for your long-term security. Those sixteen months will pass, and we’ll negotiate another deal, and keep finding the best price for many, many years to come. To stick with the “snow” theme: skiing is one of my favorite winter sports. I am in the habit of talking myself through some particularly hairy runs, by asking myself: “what the heck are you doing here?”…and answering: “I’m going to conquer the next mogul, and the next, and keep going until I get to the bottom.” There’s still plenty of hill left if you can keep thinking past the bumps.