The largest ETP focused on Natural Gas, UNG (U.S. Natural Gas Fund, Expense Ratio 0.60%) has seen an uptick in options trading recently with activity in the January 15 puts (UNG is currently trading at $17.67).
It is apparent that investors are concerned with additional possible downside in months to come.
The fund is off nearly 8% just in the trailing one month period and is trading at its lowest level since the end of 2012.
Trading volume in recent sessions has also notably spiked in the past several days, and we would expect this trend to continue so long as the price distress is present in Natural Gas.
While not necessarily the most efficient ETP in terms of tracking spot Natural Gas prices due to inherent contango issues that have been well documented in the ETF media since this fund’s inception in 2007, none of this changes the fact that UNG holds $814 million in assets under management presently as well as the fact that it trades a hefty 4.9 million shares on an average daily basis.
It remains the “benchmark” or “tracker” for Natural Gas exposure in the ETP landscape, at least for now it seems.