25 Ways To Invest In Natural Gas
Natural gas investing is an incredibly popular and active sector of the commodity world, as its high volatility as well as robust growth predictions make it a candidate for all kinds of investors. As a trading tool, natural gas tends to exhibit violent daily swings with high and liquid volumes. While this can lead to significant losses, for those who play their cards right, trading natural gas can make for a nice short term reward. For the more traditional “buy and hold” investor, there are still a number of options that may not directly invest in the commodity, but offer significant exposure under a safer structure [see also 25 Ways To Invest In Silver].
Beyond UNG: Three Intriguing ETFs To Play Natural Gas
Natural gas is one of the more volatile commodities which allows for investors to bring home serious gains, but also serious losses. It has become a trading favorite thanks to its violent price swings and its paradoxical habit of being consistently inconsistent. With weekly supply reports from the EIA as well as constant investor speculation over future energy uses, it is no surprise to see this asset class surge in such high popularity. But with natural gas futures being a bit too complex and dangerous for the average investor, many have turned to the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG) for their exposure to this coveted trading asset [see also Commodity Trading Trends: Crude Oil In Focus].
Commodity Trading Trends: Natural Gas In Focus
Natural gas has quickly become one of the most popular commodities as its violent daily movements make it perfect for traders who don’t mind a bit of risk in their daily lives. But apart from acting as a trading instrument, natural gas is an extremely popular fossil fuel that is only predicted to grow in the coming years. As the world has reached a plateau in crude production and with many countries on pace to use up their proven reserves within the next decade, natural gas, a much more abundant resource, seems to have a strong future ahead [see also Major Countries Burn Up Crude Reserves: Big Oil In Trouble?].
MLPs: CEFs, ETPs, or Mutual Funds?
Income investing is always a popular strategy for portfolio allocation that t is perhaps most effective in sideways markets, when few asset classes are generating stable returns. With today’s major indices swaying back and forth with each coming day, many analysts feel that we are indeed in a sideways environment, bringing value investing to the forefront. Of the numerous value options, few are as enticing as the Master Limited Partnership (MLP) sector. These products offer juicy dividend yields and make a play on the world’s insatiable appetite for fossil fuels [see also Three Things Wall Street Journal Didn’t Tell You About Commodities].
ProShares Debuts Leveraged Natural Gas ETFs
This article originally appeared on ETFdb.com ProShares, the largest issuer of geared ETFs that has made a push into the alternatives space, adding two more products to its lineup late last week. The new Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas (BOIL) and UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas (KOLD) are both linked to the Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Subindex, a benchmark that consists of natural gas futures contracts. BOIL will seek to deliver daily results that correspond to 200% of the change in the underlying index, while KOLD will target -200% of the daily returns of the benchmark. With the launch of the two new products ProShares now offers ten leveraged commodity funds, including ETFs linked to gold (UGL, GLL), silver (AGQ, ZSL), crude oil (UCO, SCO), and a broad basket of natural resource futures (UCD, CMD). “There has been strong demand for geared commodity ETFs, as investors have come to recognize the importance … See the full story here
Five Most-Traded Commodity Contracts Of August
August was a tumultuous months for markets across the board. The first ever downgrade of U.S. debts was handed out by S&P while the Fed announced it would be freezing rates for nearly two years. Markets reacted poorly to the headlines through out the month, swaying back forth by as much as 5%. Volume went through the roof as traders made a play to profit on volatile markets, while others pulled their assets and headed for higher ground and safer asset classes [see also Dividend Special: Top Companies In Every Major Commodity Sector].
Daily Commodity Roundup: Gold Jumps On Debt Woes, Natural Gas Sinks On Shale Discovery
Today saw yet another day of frustration in the equity market as the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst week in roughly a year. The day also saw Barack Obama issue a statement urging Congress to set aside their differences and to pass a bill in order to prevent a catastrophic default from hitting bond markets around the world. However, this plea did little to help boost investor confidence as the S&P 500 finished below 1,300 points to close Friday trading. With just days left before we reach our the final debt ceiling deadline, rumors of a U.S. downgrade have been circulating, and seem to be gaining momentum as the days go on. No matter what decision is made in Congress, it will have a significant impact on our economy, and investors can only wait in limbo until something is put into place.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Indian Demand, Natural Gas Falls On EIA Report
Equities surged forward today as solid earnings reports from a number of key firms helped to boost sentiment. Phillip Morris International rose by nearly 5% on a solid outlook while Union Pacific gained a similar amount on price increases as well. To top things off, Morgan Stanley showed a robust increase in trading revenues which helped to carry the financial sector higher overall and sent MS soaring by over 11%. Also helping markets in their 1%+ gains were actions to help Greece through yet another round of its debt crisis. While not all information has been released, initial reports from Brussels suggest that Greece will receive a bailout valued at 109 billion euro, alleviating fears that the nation would default altogether. Commodities saw an interesting day as well, as crude oil is again flirting with the $100 per barrel mark while other products took a hit during the trading session … See the full story here
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Crop Outlook, Natural Gas Falls On Supply Report
Today saw equities return to their winning ways, as positive data from around the country pushed major indexes higher, with the S&P 500 tacking on 14 more points in today’s trading session. A healthy jobs report pointed towards more hiring around the nation, and hopefully to a stronger recovery, as the process has been lagging thus far. The commodity world saw yet another strong day as the majority of individual contracts saw gains on good data and a further weakening U.S. dollar. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI index gained 34.5 points along with the RJ/CRB Commodity benchmark which jumped 6 points on the strong commodity performance for the day.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Natural Gas Tumbles On Weather Outlook, Silver Rises On Safe Haven Demand
American equity markets rose modestly in Wednesday trading as worries over Greece and Portugal were overshadowed by solid performances out of blue chips in the consumer and the technology sectors. International markets were more mixed, however, as European indexes saw red across the board while Asia saw gains in Japan and Australia, but losses in India and China. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar gained against most of its major counterparts, led by a 1% gain against both the euro and British pound, ahead of the key central bank meetings for both of these currencies tomorrow. This made it a rough day for many commodities as the UBS Bloomberg CMCI, the RJ/CRB Commodity, and the Rogers International indexes all saw losses on the day, although the S&P GSCI index did manage to rise by about 11 points in the session.
