Natural Gas ETF, a simple way to trade the energy sector

By Mark Ford

The price of natural gas has moved quite a bit this year. It has traded from over $6 down to $2.50 and back to over $5 now. With big swings in prices like this, there are opportunities for the wise investor to profit in this sector.

If you want to trade natural gas, there are several ways to trade this market. This article will review a few of the ways you can enter this market. Your choice of trading vehicles range from pure gas futures trading to investing in companies that explore and drill for natural gas.

Why trade natural gas? Natural gas is becoming more important in supplying the energy needs of the United States. Natural gas has been gaining in popularity for the generation of electricity for both residential and industrial markets. It is becoming popular since natural gas burns cleaner than coal. With the focus on global warming, there will be a push to use more natural gas for electricity generation.

Another reason to trade natural gas is because it is plentiful in the United States. Many people are pushing for more drilling here in the U.S. to tap into our vast reserves. Americans wants to get away from our dependence on foreign oil and want to use energy resource right here at home.

The natural gas market has caught the eye of the largest oil company in the world. XTO Energy, perhaps the biggest company in natural gas was purchased by ExxonMobil. If you recall last fall, oil investor T. Boone Pickens was on tv talking about how natural gas is the future for the United States. If people and companies like this are investing in natural gas, perhaps you should be too.

How to Trade Natural Gas ETFs

ETF stands for exchange traded fund. These funds are similar to trading mutual funds. An exchange traded fund will generally be made up of several stocks. Depending on which index the fund tries to mirror will determine which stocks are in the fund. If the fund is based on natural gas drillers, then only companies that fit that criteria will be included in that fund.

Currently the United States Natural Gas Fund is the largest natural gas etf. This fund trades the natural gas futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This fund purchases the front month futures contract. it hold them until 2 weeks before the contract expires.

I hope this has interested you in trading the Natural Gas ETF. Please look further into this exciting market. - 29950

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