Apparently (this from listening to the 10 o'clock news on radio 4) there was a brief moment recently when gas prices in the UK were negative... due to mild weather, and new pipelines, and no capacity to store the stuff, people were being paid to take gas off traders hands. Weird or what. Anybody got a proper ref for that?
And from the Economist, a week or so ago: some hedge fund got burned of $6n (out of $9b under management; ouch) when one of their traders bet on a continuing trend of increasing gas prices; but they went down. He got a $95m bonus last year for being right with the same bet; presumably he gets a $0 bonus this year, but the 2-year average must be pretty good.
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The hedge fund, Amaranth, folded after their investors gave them a rousing vote of no confidence by running for the exits.
That was a few days ago. Only wholesale, unfortunately - a simple short-term supply/demand issue, with a new pipe just coming online and being tested at max flow rate. I guess one is not allowed to buy it as fast as the pipe will supply, and just leave the tap open...
Here's a link to a Gulf Times story that mentions this.
On October 3, gas in the United Kingdom was being given away after a newly opened pipeline from Norway led to a surge in imports, pushing gas prices into the negative.
"He got a $95m bonus last year for being right with the same bet; presumably he gets a $0 bonus this year, but the 2-year average must be pretty good."
Such are the economics of gambling with OPM (other people's money).