The threat of another blast of bitterly cold arctic air bearing down on the U.S. is sending natural-gas futures prices to their highest level in more than a year. On Tuesday alone, prices surged by more than 6.8%. Traders and investors who had bet on falling natural-gas prices are being squeezed and have had to scramble to buy back contracts they once sold to close out their positions, pushing prices to $3.509 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange—the highest since late 2016. The surge came as weather forecasts predicted that the warm temperatures in the latter part of January will abruptly give way to another wave of intense cold from the Midwest down to Texas and eastward, as a high-pressure ridge over Alaska appears set to […]