Below are several pieces of news regarding the commodity and financial futures markets.

Please answer the questions that follow.

On Thursday, December 1, 2011, the US Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration announced that natural gas in storage (or the nation’s supplies) shrank.

Crude oil prices flirted with $100 per barrel during the last few days of November 2011. They ended up higher for November 30, 2011.

On Wednesday, November 30, 2011, the world’s five major central banks (Fed, European Central Bank, Banks of Canada, Japan, and Switzerland) announced a coordinated action to seriously tackle the European sovereign debt crisis.

Weakness in the equity market, bearish global demand/supply fundamentals, and sluggish export demand for wheat were reported during the month of November 2011.

a. What impact did that have on natural gas futures prices?

b. What impact did that have on gasoline futures prices?

c. What impact did that announcement have on financial and commodity futures?

d. What impact did these factors have on wheat futures prices?