Yesterday’s trading supports the notion that natural gas has embarked on an important new uptrend, and traders should look for ways to play the long side.  Today we will consider the January 2011 contract, for several reasons: the rollover process is well underway, with January’s open interest now higher than December’s; January gives us more time to buy and hold; and the January contract has seen some significant action around the midpoint of the pattern that we are watching.  Natural gas rewarded traders who were able to get long the futures as we advised yesterday.  A minute after the pit opened (at 9:00 a.m. in New York), a small pattern began forming which offered potential camouflage in the December contract and perfect camouflage for anyone who happened to be watching the January chart.  These patterns played out with rallies that never looked back, delivering gains of as much as fourteen cents thus far.  Both contracts blasted through the midpoint of the pattern we described yesterday, and the January contract pulled back to nearly touch the midpoint more than once before pulling away to the upside, as pictured in the attachment.  Traders not already on board should look for small patterns that create buying opportunities.  The “D” target of 4.484 looks good for a short-side trade with a stop at 4.491, but don’t ignore the possibility that a long position might take you a lot higher than that.  (Posted by Doug McLagan)