| MODULE AVAILABILITY | ♦ Pro | ♦ Standard | ♦ Price View | ♦ Exports |
Spot Ticker overview
Because fuel buying is a competitive environment where profit depends on correctly and constantly reacting to the volatile price swings in the bulk wholesale market, the Spot Ticker can help you by determining when to dispatch trucks to the rack, and how to best set your prices for the next day.
The Spot Ticker pane provides prices for refined fuels in the major regional spot markets across the United States. You can use it to check spot prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and jet fuel. It also provides insight into which way the market may be moving.
To learn more about the Spot Ticker, please refer to the Spot Ticker White Paper.
The Spot Ticker by itself is not a guarantee of where prices are going. You need to consider other factors, such as if there are any local supply issues or where the market is in relation to the pipeline and future contract cycles.
Spot Ticker interface
| 1. | The Products column lists the products for the spot group. Click on a product to change the Spot Ticker chart. |
| 2. | The Diff (differential) column displays the difference between spot product price and the futures contract. |
| 3. | The Spot column contains the latest spot market prices from DTN. If the letter S is next to the spot price, this indicates it is the final price for the day. |
| 4. | The Chg (change) column indicates the difference between current spot prices and the last price from the previous session. |
| 5. | The Spot Market is displayed in the upper right hand corner, and can be adjusted through the drop-down menu. |
| 6. | The Spot Ticker chart provides an 8 day snapshot of the selected spot product price (red) versus the NYMEX future contract (blue) that is associated with the spot product. The chart for the extended spot ticker includes averaged spot prices in green. |
| 7. | Click Refresh to see the most current prices. |
Depending on your subscription, Pro or Standard, prices are either real-time in Pro or 30-minute delay in Standard. The Spot Ticker defaults to the spot market group associated with the spot market location within the Market Analysis pane. Select another spot market group by using the drop-down menu.
Spot Markets
The spot market refers to wet barrels traded in the bulk wholesale market of the supply distribution chain that runs from the refinery gate to the terminal. The spot market is the primary driver in determining supplier postings at the rack.
The spot market establishes suppliers’ replacement costs for product. That cost is then used to set the price at the terminal for products that will be lifted by a tanker truck the subsequent day, and sold at retail outlets over the next few days. This market design has built-in the replacement cost factor, which is the way commodities are valued. In other words, a supplier sets their price at the rack for the following day, or even later that same day, based on what it would cost in real-time to replenish the gallons that are selling now.
The DTN Spot Ticker is an effective predictor, although not a guarantee, of the change in next day price postings at the rack.
The Spot Ticker displays products and prices for the corresponding spot market for the market location in the Market Analysis pane. You can select alternative Spot Market locations through the drop down menu.
To change the default for your Market Analysis location, go to Settings > Preferences and adjust the Default Dashboard Location.
Extended Spot Ticker
The Extended Spot Ticker includes averaged-based spot prices along with standard real-time spot prices. The advantage is that it diminishes the impact of intraday volatility to provide an alternate view of spot market trends.
Here’s how the spot prices are averaged: An opening real-time spot price is calculated when the market opens at 9AM Eastern Time (ET). After five minutes, a second spot price is calculated. That price is added to the starting price and divided by 2. After another five minutes, a third spot price is calculated and added to the first two prices and divided by 3, and so on throughout the day.
At market close (2:30 ET), the Spot Ticker continues to calculate spot price averages every five minutes until 5:15PM ET when the Globex session closes. At that time, the averaged spot prices reverts to the 2:30PM settlement price.
Spot Ticker resources
Spot Ticker FAQs
Q: What are the spot market prices based on?
Q: How can the Spot Ticker help me?
Q: How does DTN determine spot prices?
Q: Why does it sometimes looks like prices are going down but the next day my supplier’s price are up?