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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is a Summer Rally on the Horizon in the U.S. Natural Gas Futures Market?
I asked if natural gas prices will remain elevated throughout 2025 in a May 13, 2025, Barchart article. I wrote: The inventories, rig count, increased LNG demand, and price action during the slow shoulder season point to higher natural gas prices over the coming months. The peak demand season, when prices tend to reach annual highs, occurs in late Q3 and Q4. Given the bullish price trend, buying dips with tight stops could be optimal for natural gas over the coming weeks and months. SoftBank's Masayoshi Son Unveils $1 Trillion AI Hub Proposal for U.S. to Rival China Is a Summer Rally on the Horizon in the U.S. Natural Gas Futures Market? Crude Prices Pressured on Reduced Concern About an Imminent US Strike on Iran Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! Nearby natural gas futures were at the $3.644 per MMBtu level on May 12, 2025. They were higher at near the $4 level on June 20. U.S. natural gas futures are in a bullish trend in June 2025. The daily chart of NYMEX natural gas futures for delivery in August at the Henry Hub shows the bullish price pattern since the April 24 low of $3.394 per MMBtu. The futures were trading at near the $4 level on June 20. The longer-term chart displays a more significant bullish trend. The monthly chart shows that natural gas futures have made higher lows and higher highs since trading at a $1.60 low in February 2024. The most recent continuous contract high was $4.908 per MMBtu in March 2025, which was less than half the level at the August 2024 high of $9.987, the highest price since July 2008. A hot summer will increase natural gas demand The 2024/2025 withdrawal season ended in March 2025. While natural gas prices tend to reach their highs during winter months, the spring tends to be a weak period for prices, as the shoulder season is when heating and cooling demand fall to annual lows. As the natural gas market enters the peak cooling season during summer, demand should increase. U.S. natural gas inventories are higher than the five-year average but lower than the same time last year. As the chart shows, natural gas stockpiles across the United States, at 2.802 trillion cubic feet, were 6.1% above the five-year average for the week ending June 13, 2025. However, they were 7.7% lower than last year's level. The stockpile levels support the price above $4 per MMBtu, but another factor could push prices even higher over the coming weeks and months. The world's top ten natural gas-producing countries are:The chart indicates that the United States leads the world in natural gas production, followed by Russia in second place and Iran in third. Processing natural gas from a gaseous to a liquid form has increased its reach as LNG travels the world by ocean vessels. The war between Iran and Israel is escalating in late June 2025, posing significant supply concerns for the LNG market from two perspectives. First, Iran is the third leading producing country, and war in the region has led to attacks on Iran's oil and gas infrastructure. Moreover, Iran's strategic position in the Persian Gulf, and most significantly in the Straits of Hormuz, a logistical chokepoint, could intensify the global LNG supply concerns, leading to higher demand for U.S. LNG and pushing domestic natural gas prices higher. The most direct route for a risk position in the volatile U.S. natural gas market is the CME's NYMEX division futures and futures options contracts. The futures are highly volatile. Given the margin in the futures arena that increases leverage, the potential for price variance is exceptionally high. The UNG ETF does an excellent job tracking U.S. natural gas futures on a short-term basis. The latest rally in August natural gas futures took the price 18.7% higher from $3.563 on June 11 to $4.230 per MMBtu on June 20. Over the same period, UNG rose 15.4% from $15.70 to $18.12 per share. UNG underperformed natural gas futures because they reached their latest high on June 19 and early on June 20, a holiday in the U.S. when the stock market was closed. Over the same period, the leveraged BOIL ETF product magnified UNG and the natural gas futures' price action. The chart shows BOIL's 30.7% rally from $48.73 to $63.68 per share from June 11 through June 18. At $60.90 per share, BOIL had nearly $280 million in assets under management. BOIL trades an average of over 2.86 million shares daily and charges a 0.95% management fee. As BOIL is a bullish, leveraged natural gas product, the KOLD ETF provides market participants with the opportunity for exposure on the short side of the U.S. natural gas market. As natural gas futures move into the U.S.'s peak cooling season, supply concerns over worldwide LNG supplies have increased because of the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. Natural gas prices rallied to nearly $10 per MMBtu in August 2024. At near $4 in late June 2025, natural gas prices could have substantial upside potential over the coming days and weeks. Meanwhile, leveraged products like the BOIL and KOLD ETFs require careful attention to risk-reward dynamics. Time and price stops will protect capital if natural gas prices move contrary to expectations or remain stable. Time decay tends to erode BOIL and KOLD prices as the ETF's employ swaps and options to create leverage. Another risk is that while natural gas futures trade around the clock, UNG, BOIL, and KOLD are only available during U.S. stock market hours. The ETF products can miss highs or lows occurring when the stock market is closed. A summer rally could be on the horizon in the natural gas futures market, which has significant potential, as we saw in August 2024 when the price rose to nearly $10 per MMBtu. On the date of publication, Andrew Hecht did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crude Prices Pressured on Reduced Concern About an Imminent US Strike on Iran
July WTI crude oil (CLN25) today is down -0.26 (-0.35%), and July RBOB gasoline (RBN25) is up +0.0057 (+0.25%). Crude oil and gasoline prices today are mixed, with gasoline posting a 10-1/4 month high. Today's weaker dollar is bullish for energy prices. Also, concern about the Israel-Iran conflict is bullish for crude after Bloomberg reported Thursday that US officials are preparing for a possible strike on Iran. SoftBank's Masayoshi Son Unveils $1 Trillion AI Hub Proposal for U.S. to Rival China Crude Prices Pressured on Reduced Concern About an Imminent US Strike on Iran Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! However, crude prices were undercut after President Trump said he would wait two weeks to give diplomacy a chance before deciding if the US should attack Iran. Crude prices were also pressured on signs that Iran is ready to negotiate after Reuters reported that the Iranian government is ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment. So far, Iran has not impeded ship movement through the vital Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 20% of the world's daily crude shipments. However, a French naval liaison group stated that navigational signals from over 1,000 vessels a day moving through the Strait had been disrupted due to "extreme jamming" of signals from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which led to a collision of two tankers on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices continue to be undercut by tariff concerns after President Trump said last Wednesday that he intends to send letters to dozens of US trading partners within one to two weeks, setting unilateral tariffs ahead of the July 9 deadline that came with his 90-day pause. A decline in crude oil held worldwide on tankers is bullish for oil prices. Vortexa reported Monday that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days fell by -7.2% w/w to 73.97 million bbl in the week ended June 13. Concern about a global oil glut is negative for crude prices. On May 31, OPEC+ agreed to a 411,000 bpd crude production hike for July after raising output by the same amount for June. Saudi Arabia has signaled that additional similar-sized increases in crude output could follow, which is viewed as a strategy to reduce oil prices and punish overproducing OPEC+ members, such as Kazakhstan and Iraq. OPEC+ is boosting output to reverse the 2-year-long production cut, gradually restoring a total of 2.2 million bpd of production. OPEC+ had previously planned to restore production between January and late 2025, but now that production cut won't be fully restored until September 2026. OPEC May crude production rose +200,000 bpd to 27.54 million bpd. Wednesday's EIA report showed that (1) US crude oil inventories as of June 13 were -10.2% below the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -1.8% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -16.7% below the 5-year seasonal average. US crude oil production in the week ending June 14 was unchanged w/w at 13.431 million bpd, modestly below the record high of 13.631 million bpd from the week of December 6. Baker Hughes reported last Friday that active US oil rigs in the week ending June 13 fell by -3 to a 3-3/4 year low of 439 rigs. Over the past 2-1/2 years, the number of US oil rigs has fallen from the 5-1/4 year high of 627 rigs posted in December 2022. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Infobip Unveils Conversational Experience Orchestration Platform (CXOP): The Next Generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Powered Customer Conversations
Global cloud communications platform Infobip ( today announced its Conversational Experience Orchestration Platform (CXOP) — a game-changing solution that places agentic AI at the heart of every customer interaction. CXOP enables brands to move beyond static, rules-based workflows to deliver dynamic, goal-oriented conversations across marketing, sales, and support — at scale. The announcement builds on Infobip's AI Hub, marking a major step forward by natively infusing agentic AI across Infobip's entire award-winning product stack — unifying channels, data, and automation into a single intelligent platform. Built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, CXOP uses intelligent AI agents to orchestrate personalized customer journeys across channels like WhatsApp, RCS, and web chat. These agents understand context, act autonomously, and seamlessly collaborate with human teams when needed — reducing time to resolution, improving loyalty, and cutting costs. Today's consumers expect instant, relevant, and seamless interactions no matter what the channel. CXOP meets this demand by unifying messaging, automation, and AI-powered assistance within a single, intelligent platform that adapts to behavior, sentiment, and intent in real time. With CXOP, businesses can: Deliver empathetic, goal-driven AI interactions across channels Slash response times and reduce service costs through automation Increase lead conversion and campaign performance with real-time personalization Support hybrid teams with human-in-the-loop for complex cases Launch fast with no-code or full-code deployment options At its core, CXOP leverages a network of intelligent, agentic AI assistants that understand user intent and execute context-sensitive workflows. These agents don't just answer — they guide, solve, and act, creating fluid, human-like experiences from lead generation to retention. 'CXOP enables enterprises to move beyond static workflows and deliver intelligent, empathetic interactions at scale,' said Ivan Ostojić, Chief Business Officer at Infobip. 'It's a foundational step toward building AI-first customer experiences that drive measurable business impact.' 'Using agentic AI instead of a rules-based automation, Infobip's new CXOP is an enhancement for customer experiences,' said Myladie Stoumbou, Sr Director ISV Partnerships, at Microsoft. 'Available within the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, clients can access such certified products and eliminate the complexity of managing individual vendor relationships.' For more information, contact: Marcelo Nahime Bojana Mandić About Infobip: Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip's omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and 'things' in 6 continents connected to over 9,700+ connections of which 800+ are direct operator connections. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić. Recent award wins include: Infobip ranked as Leader in the Omdia CPaaS Universe Report for the third time (April 2025) Infobip ranked an Established Leader in the Juniper Research Conversational AI Leaderboard (Feb 2025) Infobip named a CPaaS Leader for the third time in the IDC MarketScape (Feb 2025) Infobip named one of the top CPaaS providers in Metrigy's CPaaS MetriRank Report (Dec 2024) Infobip named number one among Established Leaders in RCS Business Messaging in Juniper Research's RCS Business Messaging Competitor Leaderboard 2024 (Nov 2024) Infobip recognized as the number one provider in the AIT Fraud Prevention market by Juniper Research (Oct 2024) Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2024 for the second year running (June 2024) Infobip named to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies (March 2024)
Zawya
11-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Infobip unveils CXOP: The next generation of AI-powered customer conversations
Global cloud communications platform Infobip today announced its Conversational Experience Orchestration Platform (CXOP) — a game-changing solution that places agentic AI at the heart of every customer interaction. CXOP enables brands to move beyond static, rules-based workflows to deliver dynamic, goal-oriented conversations across marketing, sales, and support — at scale. The announcement builds on Infobip's AI Hub, marking a major step forward by natively infusing agentic AI across Infobip's entire award-winning product stack — unifying channels, data, and automation into a single intelligent platform. Built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, CXOP uses intelligent AI agents to orchestrate personalized customer journeys across channels like WhatsApp, RCS, and web chat. These agents understand context, act autonomously, and seamlessly collaborate with human teams when needed — reducing time to resolution, improving loyalty, and cutting costs. Today's consumers expect instant, relevant, and seamless interactions no matter what the channel. CXOP meets this demand by unifying messaging, automation, and AI-powered assistance within a single, intelligent platform that adapts to behavior, sentiment, and intent in real time. With CXOP, businesses can: Deliver empathetic, goal-driven AI interactions across channels Slash response times and reduce service costs through automation Increase lead conversion and campaign performance with real-time personalization Support hybrid teams with human-in-the-loop for complex cases Launch fast with no-code or full-code deployment options At its core, CXOP leverages a network of intelligent, agentic AI assistants that understand user intent and execute context-sensitive workflows. These agents don't just answer — they guide, solve, and act, creating fluid, human-like experiences from lead generation to retention. 'CXOP enables enterprises to move beyond static workflows and deliver intelligent, empathetic interactions at scale,' said Ivan Ostojić, Chief Business Officer at Infobip. 'It's a foundational step toward building AI-first customer experiences that drive measurable business impact.' 'Using agentic AI instead of a rules-based automation, Infobip's new CXOP is an enhancement for customer experiences,' said Myladie Stoumbou, Sr Director ISV Partnerships, at Microsoft. 'Available within the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, clients can access such certified products and eliminate the complexity of managing individual vendor relationships.' About Infobip Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip's omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and 'things' in 6 continents connected to over 9,700+ connections of which 800+ are direct operator connections. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić. Recent award wins include: Infobip ranked as Leader in the Omdia CPaaS Universe Report for the third time (April 2025) Infobip ranked an Established Leader in the Juniper Research Conversational AI Leaderboard (Feb 2025) Infobip named a CPaaS Leader for the third time in the IDC MarketScape (Feb 2025) Infobip named one of the top CPaaS providers in Metrigy's CPaaS MetriRank Report (Dec 2024) Infobip named number one among Established Leaders in RCS Business Messaging in Juniper Research's RCS Business Messaging Competitor Leaderboard 2024 (Nov 2024) Infobip recognized as the number one provider in the AIT Fraud Prevention market by Juniper Research (Oct 2024) Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2024 for the second year running (June 2024) Infobip named to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies (March 2024)
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Infobip Unveils CXOP: The Next Generation of AI-Powered Customer Conversations
Built on agentic AI, CXOP delivers intelligent, hyper-personalized experiences across the full customer journey KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Global cloud communications platform Infobip today announced its Conversational Experience Orchestration Platform (CXOP) — a game-changing solution that places agentic AI at the heart of every customer interaction. CXOP enables brands to move beyond static, rules-based workflows to deliver dynamic, goal-oriented conversations across marketing, sales, and support — at scale. The announcement builds on Infobip's AI Hub, marking a major step forward by natively infusing agentic AI across Infobip's entire award-winning product stack — unifying channels, data, and automation into a single intelligent platform. Built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, CXOP uses intelligent AI agents to orchestrate personalized customer journeys across channels like WhatsApp, RCS, and web chat. These agents understand context, act autonomously, and seamlessly collaborate with human teams when needed — reducing time to resolution, improving loyalty, and cutting costs. Today's consumers expect instant, relevant, and seamless interactions no matter what the channel. CXOP meets this demand by unifying messaging, automation, and AI-powered assistance within a single, intelligent platform that adapts to behavior, sentiment, and intent in real time. With CXOP, businesses can: Deliver empathetic, goal-driven AI interactions across channels Slash response times and reduce service costs through automation Increase lead conversion and campaign performance with real-time personalization Support hybrid teams with human-in-the-loop for complex cases Launch fast with no-code or full-code deployment options At its core, CXOP leverages a network of intelligent, agentic AI assistants that understand user intent and execute context-sensitive workflows. These agents don't just answer — they guide, solve, and act, creating fluid, human-like experiences from lead generation to retention. "CXOP enables enterprises to move beyond static workflows and deliver intelligent, empathetic interactions at scale," said Ivan Ostojić, Chief Business Officer at Infobip. "It's a foundational step toward building AI-first customer experiences that drive measurable business impact." "Using agentic AI instead of a rules-based automation, Infobip's new CXOP is an enhancement for customer experiences," said Myladie Stoumbou, Sr Director ISV Partnerships, at Microsoft. "Available within the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, clients can access such certified products and eliminate the complexity of managing individual vendor relationships." About Infobip Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip's omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and 'things' in 6 continents connected to over 9,700+ connections of which 800+ are direct operator connections. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić. Recent award wins include: Infobip ranked as Leader in the Omdia CPaaS Universe Report for the third time (April 2025) Infobip ranked an Established Leader in the Juniper Research Conversational AI Leaderboard (Feb 2025) Infobip named a CPaaS Leader for the third time in the IDC MarketScape (Feb 2025) Infobip named one of the top CPaaS providers in Metrigy's CPaaS MetriRank Report (Dec 2024) Infobip named number one among Established Leaders in RCS Business Messaging in Juniper Research's RCS Business Messaging Competitor Leaderboard 2024 (Nov 2024) Infobip recognized as the number one provider in the AIT Fraud Prevention market by Juniper Research (Oct 2024) Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2024 for the second year running (June 2024) Infobip named to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies (March 2024) View original content: SOURCE Infobip Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
