Winter Storm Fern has slammed into the United States, encasing 34 states in ice and forcing millions of Americans to crank up their thermostats. While meteorologists track the plunging temperatures and an incoming bomb cyclone that could bring blizzard conditions and even more snow to the United States, Wall Street is tracking a different metric: the spark spread.
As the arctic blast strains the grid from the Midwest to Texas, financial thermometers are overheating. Natural Gas futures (NG=F) have surged 5.49% this week, and wholesale electricity prices in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland (PJM) region have spiked to levels rarely seen outside of extreme events.
