The Arctic blast remains a concern and has boosted BOIL gains, while KOLD continues to slide.
- According to the National Weather Service, an expansive winter storm continues across the Midwest and much of the Northeast, with heavy icing ongoing.
- A total of 860,915 houses experienced power outages nationwide, with major outages reported in Tennessee and Mississippi, according to poweroutage.us.
- NG1 jumped 16% to $6.090 as of 10:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and has gained over 65% so far this year.
U.S. natural gas futures jumped nearly 16% in overnight trading as freezing weather continues to grip the United States after Winter Storm Fern is expected to create more havoc through Monday.
A cold blast that has swept the country has resulted in power outages, cancelled flights, and put roughly 185 million people under winter alerts with chills in some areas as low as the minus 20s and minus 30s. Over the weekend, in preparation for the storm, increased demand for heating fuel has been lifting natural gas prices and boosting interest in leveraged exchange-traded funds.
BOIL And KOLD’s NatGas Angle
ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (BOIL) was up 10% at $31.23 in overnight trading on Sunday, according to Yahoo Finance, following a 72% jump last week and a 24% increase this year.
Natural Gas Futures (NG1), with a nearly 172% weightage, is the ETF's top holding, according to Koyfin data. NG1 jumped 16% to $6.090 as of 10:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and has gained over 65% so far this year. ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Natural Gas (KOLD), an ETF that benefits from falling natural gas prices, was down 10.4% in overnight trading.
Deadly Winter Storm
According to the National Weather Service, an expansive winter storm continues across the Midwest and much of the Northeast, with heavy icing ongoing. The forecast noted that heavy snow is expected to overspread from west to east across Pennsylvania and New York state, then move into central and southern New England through Sunday, before gradually tapering off in southeastern New England early Monday morning.
The BBC reported that the winter storm has left at least three people dead, with two reports of death due to hypothermia in Louisiana and state health officials linking their deaths to the storm, while another death was reported in Texas. A total of 860,915 houses experienced power outages nationwide, with major outages reported in Tennessee and Mississippi, according to poweroutage.us.
How Are Retail Traders Reacting?
Stocktwits sentiment on BOIL was in 'bullish' territory, down from 'extremely bullish' a day ago, with message volume at 'extremely high' levels. In the last 24 hours, retail message volumes have jumped 45%, and the platform has added over 2% in followers in the past 30 days.
On the other hand, sentiment on KOLD was 'extremely bullish' from 'bullish' a week ago, with message volumes at 'extremely high' levels.
A bullish user on Stocktwits said that the permanent price increase in natural gas has just begun.
Shares of BOIL closed up 8.2% on Friday, and KOLD stock was down 7.2%.
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