Powerisk Glossary

Prompt

Prompt generally refers to a trading time period within a week of today. i.e. at the front of the curve. Sometimes, traders will refer to the prompt season or month, if we are in January the prompt month will be February and the prompt season will be Summer.


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Gains Seen Across the Curve  

21 December 2009


There was no sign of an early Christmas in the power market on Friday with a 'flurry' of trading resulting in gains across the power curve.  read more...

Market forgets basic principles and panics!  

02 October 2009


It could be said that the market over reacted today in the prompt market with a price rally on the back of a £142 half hourly cash out price.  read more...

A sliding Prompt  

14 November 2008


A comfortable system in terms of supply margins left the prompt power market sliding.  read more...

Lower than Expected Demand Puts on Pressure  

06 November 2008


A combination of factors appear to have influenced UK power demand and NGC is said to be keeping a close eye on demand outturn going forward which may cause it to review its winter outlook.  read more...

Week 44 helps Drive November Down  

16 October 2008


The November contract came under pressure falling £9.25/MWh Baseload and £12.30MWh Peaks.  read more...

Oil prices fall marginally  

09 June 2008


Oil prices fall back after the largest single daily rise ever seen in the market.  read more...

Nuclear plant behaving badly  

06 June 2008


Nuclear fleet continues to struggle as outages overrun.  read more...

The prompt is still too high  

02 June 2008


Prompt prices are forcing any sellers to go home, as levels are high and supply is intemittent.  read more...

Curve tracks oil downturn  

29 May 2008


Curve falls on stability and oil. Gordon Brown strengthens the governments resolve on any new nuclear decisions.  read more...

Unplanned Outages Cause Powercuts  

28 May 2008


Power cuts seen across the UK following an unplanned outage at BE’s Sizewell B nuclear plant in Suffolk  read more...

Price Falls Short-lived  

16 May 2008


Prompt power market rebounds following on from yesterday’s sell-off.  read more...

Demand Drives Prices  

14 May 2008


Mild weather, ample supply margins and lower prices in France….all help to firm UK Prompt Prices??  read more...

Warm Weather Helps to Melt Prices  

07 May 2008


Warm weather and over supply all helped to maintain a downward pressure on gas prices both in the prompt markets and further out on the curve.  read more...

FOA still consulting  

28 February 2008


FOA set to launch new platform in April.  read more...

Prompt and Curve diverge  

19 February 2008


Could the change in price be a trading signal.  read more...

Prompt pulls 09 down.  

01 February 2008


The prompt market continues to influence the back end of the curve.  read more...

Prompt and curve start to break away  

28 January 2008


The market has rallied again in the prompt on the back of the cold snap predicted at the end of the week, but encouragingly the curve has not risen with it.  read more...

Prompt prices rise as interest turns to the back of the curve  

12 December 2007


Prompt still maintains traders affections.  read more...

Prompt plunge  

27 November 2007


Prompt prices fall on increasing supply and milder weather  read more...

Next week looks tight on the margin  

16 November 2007


French demand likely to be met by a tight UK plant margin.  read more...

Striking French cause supply issues  

14 November 2007


French strikes cause fear of outages on both sides of the channel.  read more...

Nuclear Woes continue  

12 November 2007


Nuclear plant continue to remain on outage and the city meanwhile sell BE shares day on day.  read more...

Prices slide on oil  

30 October 2007


Fundamentals change and cause a slide.  read more...

Second Nism  

29 October 2007


The market respond unusually to a NISM.  read more...

Market steady in uncertaintity  

09 October 2007


Market unsure which direction to turn and traders are getting conflicting fundamental data from the gas and power markets.  read more...

Prompt continues to dominate  

05 October 2007


The market looks set to settle down after the last three weeks excitement it is probably no bad thing that the world starts to do some fundamental analysis.  read more...

What a volatile week!  

21 September 2007


Market moves for next week could be very interesting.  read more...

Market fluctuates  

14 September 2007


Market continues to get volatile with players taking a range of differing views.  read more...

Prompt prices rise  

10 September 2007


Short term marches up on prompt fears  read more...

Plant returns without problem  

28 August 2007


Market fears allayed as almost all plant returns from outage after the bank holiday weekend.  read more...

Prompt v's Curve  

24 August 2007


Markets need activity and at the moment this is in short supply as traders gear up for the Bank holiday weekend.  read more...

Prompt ticks up  

15 August 2007


Players see a slight rise in prompt prices but recent trading suggests it is likely to be short lived.  read more...

Interest in March 08  

07 August 2007


Trading opportunities still exist in the rangebound markets.  read more...

October 07 could be of interest  

31 July 2007


October is an interesting shoulder month to watch, it shows a dichotomy between the gas and power market.  read more...

Gas markets fear low prices  

20 July 2007


Gas market shenanigans continue as players start to look carefully at the volatillity market, which continues to be over priced with stigma of fear in the gas market.  read more...

Power and Gas markets become contrary.  

13 July 2007


The market responding interestingly to the change inf undamenatlas, as weather gas and carbon data all influence the market in differing ways this week.  read more...

Met office appear to struggle  

25 June 2007


Its wet almost everywhere and this only proves that predicting the weather is like trying to pick the winner at Wimbledon. Everyone knows that Federer should win and this was the hottest summer on record but it looks like a Pat Cash could win again!  read more...

Day Ahead pricey  

22 June 2007


Selling long and buying short seems to be a smart trade but the risk reward ratios at the moment do not justify the trades.  read more...

Oil gas and emissions all marginally down  

15 June 2007


Markets see a few more sellers as buyers start to run out of steam as fundamentals point to a slight over buy.  read more...

Some worries for the future  

12 June 2007


Some players are looking carefully at margins in July and August but it does not appear to be too bad at the moment.  read more...

Gas markets dictate patterns across the Uk.  

10 May 2007


Gas markets dropped on Langeled production and this has caused some interest for the sellers.  read more...

What happens if the MET get it wrong.  

04 May 2007


Could be interesting if it does not turn out to be as hot as predicted. Players may just end up being a little long and wrong.  read more...

Gas- The story so far.......  

26 April 2007


Gas market continues to be influenced by some funny things, carbon oil and occasionally market fundamentals.  read more...

Backwardation and contango  

20 April 2007


The curve is changing shape this could be a short term thing as players tend to forget the back of the curve as it is less liquid but more often than not it is a fundamental shift in the market next week will tell.  read more...

An arctic test  

16 April 2007


Will the market trickle up this week on fears of a cold snap, if so then expect a significant sell off when it is confirmed that the cold snap is definitely coming!  read more...

Market falls on a Friday  

02 March 2007


Market corrects again and volatility returns to the market good for traders but a lack of trend is causing some to think carefully about what they do.  read more...

Why modelling might be an own GOAL.  

12 February 2007


Modelling is defintely worth using if you are confident with the assumptions but going down to spurios detail can hide the models defficiencies.  read more...

Windy day sees lower prices  

19 January 2007


The market is looking for fundamental signs as to what may happen in the future. Winter 07 might look overpriced when the average day ahead price for January is likely to turn out at sub £30.  read more...

Prompt rises on cold snap potentials  

16 January 2007


The market looks slightly more bullish with day ahead and next week responding to a potential cold snap. The market needs to know how cold it will be and whether the £4 premium is justified.  read more...

Day ahead drives curve to new lows  

03 January 2007


The market is yet to experience a return to full demand and so the day ahead has remained low, this is effecting the curve but how long will it last.  read more...

Market collapses on plentiful gas.  

04 December 2006


The market continues to freefall as players look at the fundmentals the colder it gets the more gas seems to be coming into the market and the more likley that system can cope.  read more...

The fall continues  

01 December 2006


The market is falling aggressively as players are determined to sell on low prompt prices.  read more...

Summer and Winter get hit by the prompt  

28 November 2006


The market continues to set new lows and players are comfortable to trade sporadically as prices become better.  read more...

Prompt continues to be bashed  

22 November 2006


Prompt continues to be of interest to most players with trading further along the curve limited.  read more...

Bulls start to get grip of market.  

21 November 2006


The prompt is picking up and driving some of the front curve higher.  read more...

Oil market pushes power  

10 November 2006


Oil market rises have effected power prices but some of these gains may be offset by the emissions falls next week, could see further bearish pressure.  read more...

Winter is here....  

03 November 2006


The market is responding to the cold weather but it is not causing any concern and most are determined to concentrate on the prompt and not the longer term.  read more...

Where have all the bulls gone  

13 October 2006


The market looks stagnant but volatility has risen as it lurches from new lows to £1-£3 higher in two days. This is more volatile than a steady fall.  read more...

Spark and Dark reverse  

02 October 2006


Spark and Darks reverse in the day ahead if we starting seeing this in the forward price then expect a further downward drop and also a fall in emissions prices.  read more...

The prompt responds to more available plant  

23 August 2006


Quiet, quite dull as the market responds to the prompt fundamentals and then stays very still whilst traders play at the margins.  read more...

Prompt stronger, but curve softer  

07 August 2006


Market ticking along waiting for fresh news, but what news that is out there is causing players to hold the length at the fornt and sell the backend.  read more...

Winter 06 Technical Levels breached  

01 August 2006


Winter 06 falls below the technical levels and could be in for further falls if things continue the way they are going with gas prices on the march down.  read more...

Coolness descends on prices  

31 July 2006


Prices fall on cool weather and players are keen to try and capitalise on this fall and so it will be interesting to see whether prices stay here for long.  read more...

Winter 06 slides.  

24 July 2006


Winter 06 reacting maturely to the prompt fears and beginning to move South as gas producers start to off-load some of their length.  read more...

When is a good time to trade the quarters or months  

21 July 2006


November and Q4 are not as cheap as they could be, a mild winter more supply in both gas and power than last year suggest that the market is overpriced.  read more...

Cooler climbs cause bears to come out of the woods.  

20 July 2006


Market cools as the temperature momentarily drops. The real question is whether players start to use this as an excuse to load up the back end of the curve.  read more...

Market Fears over-played.  

10 July 2006


Prompt continues to wag the backend of the curve, but realistically things look to be under control, and traders are moving the market on rumour and counter-rumour.  read more...

Watch the prompt  

04 July 2006


Gas prices reducing as system gets longer on many gas stations taking outages. This has put pressure on the August and September to fall and if the power plant return steadily then we could see a move in Winter 06 out of £60.  read more...

Penalties, and prompt.  

03 July 2006


Prompt prices the key fundamental as to what will happen with the power market. If in the next three days there are no further outages and the weather subsides so air-condintioning is not causing problems then we should see the Winter 06 fall further.  read more...

8 GW of plant goes on outage.  

28 June 2006


A stream of plant are now on outage if the market fundamentals can cope (which everything suggests they can) then we are in for a low Summer, and this could pull Winter with it.  read more...

The market fall starts early  

12 May 2006


The market has fallen in the prompt this morning with increasing gas in the system and the recent bubble tendency in commodities has seen some take profit.  read more...

Pressures somewhat contradictory  

05 April 2006


Winter 06 not sure which tune to dance to the Sparkers or the fundamentalists.  read more...

Gas market fundamentals and Fear  

15 March 2006


Fear can drive a market as suddenly everyone wants to be long (or short) this invariably creates an over buying or over selling atmosphere. When the day ahead hits £200 you have to ask if the fear is driving the market.  read more...

Prompt versus the curve  

07 March 2006


Prompt prices can influence the backend of the curve but sometimes traders over estimate how important it is.  read more...

March 06 v April 06  

23 February 2006


March and April as individual months are difficult to trade on a time spread but fundamental information is helping point in certain directions which help the decision.  read more...

Long Term trading decisions  

13 February 2006


Long dated trading decisions lose focus as players concentrate on the prompt and settling Summer 06.  read more...

5th Small supplier goes bust and blames the lack of upstream assets  

07 February 2006


Zest 4 folds to join illustrious list, and they have no one to blame but themselves. Good risk management applies to all companies whatever size you are.  read more...

Bears continue march at the front end.  

26 January 2006


Gas pushes market down, but then it was responsible for the subsequent increase in the first place. When the bulls strike the market responds aggressively, the bears do not appear to be quite as aggressive........ yet.  read more...

March moves down- but we knew it would.  

25 January 2006


Powerisk stated some time ago that March traditionally gets over bid on the back of cold weather and spark spread data. Rarely does it last and this was predicted by Powerisk in does the spark ever breakdown.  read more...

Bears return in Week 51  

15 December 2005


Bears back to drive prompt South, curve follows suit predominantly demand and gas led. The market appears to be getting quieter as Christmas gets closer.  read more...

Traders quiet but market has life left in it.  

02 December 2005


Traders waiting for Christmas as market throws enticing opportunities their way.  read more...

Spark spread mathematics does not add up.  

17 November 2005


One example of why buying physical power to cover a demand short is so difficult when you cannot sell or buy and sell gas.  read more...

Market comes off on the back of gas was it overcooked?  

16 November 2005


Prompt and Q1 fall on correction from overbuying last week, in reality how long lived this sell off will be is anyones guess.  read more...

Are the markets broken?  

14 November 2005


The market is becoming more volatile less liquid and players are spooked, it is not broken, it is just more scary to operate it.  read more...

UK players start to watch European markets more carefully.  

10 November 2005


Emissions starts to increase correlation between European power markets. As Germany and France hit new highs, Powerisk asks the question; Is the UK ahead or behind Germany and France?  read more...

Gas prices drive power ever upwards.  

09 November 2005


Clean dark spread cheaper than the clean spark as gas sellers go on holiday. German demand for emissions allowances produces semi-squeeze in prices.  read more...

Bears still around  

04 November 2005


Bears push market down on the back of gas, the run has been quite long lived and some will question when the bulls will return.  read more...

Bearish prompt- but many unknowns  

31 October 2005


Liquidity the oxygen of every market is on the decline.  read more...

Bears return  

20 October 2005


Bears back on mild weather low gas demand and a correction from the heavy buying seen in the previous two months.  read more...

Continued weather uncertaintity pushes market  

18 October 2005


Prompt and the back end of curve fall, on gas and emissions led drops.  read more...

Curve hits a pattern  

10 October 2005


Winters fall as Summers stay still. Traders see the scaremongering and look at the raw facts. Buy the rumour; sell the fact.  read more...

Prompt sets stall for the future.  

04 October 2005


"Now is the winter of our discontent". Shakespeare summed up the traders feelings for Winter 2005.  read more...

Nuclear Statement affects prompt.  

29 September 2005


Nuclear annoucement drives prompt prices higher on unplanned outages at Heysham and Hartlepool.  read more...

Curve falls further on gas and fundamentals  

27 September 2005


Falling market looks to continue with all fundamentals responding to the break up of Winter 05 in both the gas and power markets and the resultant sell off.  read more...

Oil nothing but a bit of hype  

16 September 2005


Carbon and gas fall pushing power with it.  read more...

Supply fears at the front end  

14 September 2005


Prompt rises, but looks like a short term problem is to blame.  read more...

The Market responds to fundamentals  

06 September 2005


Fundamentals push curve down with only Carbon bucking the trend.  read more...

Is Flexible Purchasing the way forward?  

23 August 2005


Flexible purchasing is a change for the best but it needs care and management in order to get it right.  read more...

Further slides as the longs take profits  

16 August 2005


More bears in the front end as season and months fall, but the back end of the curve looks over bought.  read more...

Stability is the order of the day  

05 August 2005


Steady and boring means that it isn't going up and if anything looks more likely to test some of the longs who may be forced to take some profits as carbon, oil and gas all look soft.  read more...


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