Before we get into today's article, I'd like to thank Market Report reader D.V. for catching a mistake I made last week:

“Areva shares can in fact be purchased under the symbol CEI on the French Exchange (not as ADRs however).”

I had noted that Areva was a privately held company. As it turns out, you can also find Areva on the pink sheets under the symbol ARVCF.PK.

Now, on with the show...

The worst thing about leaving the Money Show in Orlando, Florida was coming back to a potential snowstorm here in Baltimore.

We're expecting winter weather overnight and through tomorrow here in the mid-Atlantic region -- a far cry from temperatures in the mid `70s. Mind you, Maryland won't look like Oswego with its 100-plus inches of snow, but it should be enough to slow things down a bit... and crank up the heat.

Natural gas isn't acting like much will happen, however. The clean-burning commodity is off more than 6% today.

This may be more of a technical correction, though. Natural gas has seen some scorching gains over the past month or so. In fact, it's climbed more than 21% so far this year. Natural gas prices rose nearly 16% between January 18-24 alone!

A drop here looks more like a consolidation, a rest after such a swift rise.

Heating oil's down slightly today, too, though with the tight correlation between crude and heating oil, that's no big surprise.

Oil's down today on news from Saudi Arabia. The OPEC member has said that it sees no reason for further production cuts. Once again, we've seen oil test the $60 level and fall back.

Last week, I said that it was possible for oil to lag a bit here, perhaps trading sideways or dipping slightly to no lower than $57.50. We could see that point hit by Wednesday.

I expect oil prices to hold at that level, particularly if we see strong winter weather in the Northeast. Remember, nearly all heating oil in the United States is used in the Northeast. Another system moving through will keep demand for heating oil high.

I'll keep you updated on how we do here in Baltimore with this winter storm watch... If you live in the mid-Atlantic region, shoot us an e-mail and let us know how things are in your neighborhood.

Send an e-mail to e-news@taipanfinancialnews.com with the subject, “Winter Weather Update.”

Until then, be safe and warm.