The markets were clearly fixated on freezing weather this week

Most of Quartz’s staff is based in New York, and it’s been very cold here today. (The chill made yesterday’s outdoor Kanye West concert just miserable. And according to Gothamist, “it was the kind of cold that turned exposed fingers into swollen Twinkie bars.” To be sure, we have nothing on the frozen tundra that is Boston, as well as the perennially snowed in regions surrounding the Great Lakes, but complaining is fun.

After last year’s polar vortex burnt through natural stockpiles, producers went into overdrive to try to capitalize on higher prices. But a mild December drove up supplies and hammered prices, which started the year by falling 7% in January. They’re still down roughly 27% over the last six months. But this week they rose more than 8%, thanks to the recent arctic blast that is expected to dog the northeast US until the end of February. Prices are still short of last year’s heights, but the week’s price rise outpaced some other market milestones, including DAX 11,000, Swedish QE, and Apple’s record valuation.