$VelocityShares 3x Long Natural Gas ETN(UGAZ)$ • Citigroup is touting notoriously volatile natural gas as a possible haven for investors weary of the market's wild swings.
• The U.S. gas market is "an oasis amid market turmoil," Citi's Anthony Yuen says - its supplies are cut off from overseas markets, and relatively steady demand comes largely from the need for heat and power; also, "the lower oil prices get and the worse that financing conditions for producers become, the better for gas prices."
• In the current bumpy environment for other commodities, gas’s isolation should appeal to investors looking for a calmer market, the firm says; gas has stayed at $2.50-$3.00/MMBtu since the spring, a far cry from the days when it could jump between $4 and $10 in a matter of months.
• Others are not so sure: "The volatility, when it comes in natural gas, it comes like no other asset class," says Oppenheimer's George Zivic. “It is by no means benign. It is just benign now, at the end of the summer, when we have a lot of supply."
• ETFs: UNG, UGAZ, DGAZ, BOIL, GAZ, FCG, GASL, KOLD, UNL, DCNG