Natural gas just crashed to a 16-year low
Here's just another commodity crashing in 2015: natural gas.
On Tuesday afternoon, natural gas prices fell to a 16-year low. Futures in New York fell nearly 4% to as low as $1.820 per million British thermal units.
The plunge in natural gas prices appears to be related (for real this time) to the warmer-than-usual weather.
The East Coast is experiencing an unseasonably warm winter so far, caused by the El Niño, and that's reducing demand for natural gas heating. And in an unseasonal move, natural gas prices have fallen instead of climbed at this time of year.
But like most other commodities, natural gas prices have been on a steady decline. And this price crash to the lowest level since 1999 comes near the end of what's been a terrible year for commodities that's seen crude oil slide to seven-year lows, gold flash-crash, and iron ore, copper, aluminum and other metals all get crushed.
Here's a chart showing the drop in natural gas this month:Investing.com