Distressed Volatility

It's interesting that the capital markets on Friday predicted the severity of Hurricane Gustav better than most of the weather stations who were predicting the next Katrina. Oil and natural gas prices, along with energy stock price actions, were predicting that Gustav wouldn't effect the energy infrastructure 3 days before it even hit. The anticipation of Gustav's force matching Katrina's did put a bid into energy prices and oil/gas stocks at the beginning of the week but it faded on Friday when the prices of oil and natural gas ended in negative territory. The market was right. Even though production was halted, Gustav caused limited damage to the Gulf's energy infrastructure and oil futures dropped over $7 as a result. The falling energy prices were also helped by a stronger dollar, lower demand and no direct international conflicts. Never Fight The Tape!!

5 Day Oil Price
5 Day Natural Gas Price
5 Day Chesapeake Energy Price

Chart Source: Yahoo Finance