How The Blizzard In The US Affected Markets

Winter storm Jonas has wreaked a lot of havoc, not just in the east coast of the United States, but in the financial markets as well. Here are some of the effects of one of the worst blizzards in history on the US economy and market price action.

Business Activity

It’s no surprise that business activity has been in a standstill for days in a number of US cities in New York, Virginia, and DC. Roads had to be closed while several modes of transportation were inaccessible, leading some businesses to pause operations and employees to take time off work.

Macroeconomic analysts estimated that the storm probably cost around $350-850 million in damages to infrastructure, business losses, and lack of hourly wages. In New York alone, the city controller estimated that the cost of cleaning up piles of snowfall amounts to roughly $1.8 million per inch.

On a less downbeat note, however, not all businesses suffered losses from this phenomenon as some actually raked in quick profits on panic-buying and sales of winter apparel. Several grocery stores saw a spike in purchases leading up to the storm, as folks hoarded supplies such as bread, eggs, and hardware in preparation. Meanwhile, department store chains such as Target enjoyed an influx of buyers of jackets and gloves.

In fact, Columbia Sportswear saw such a strong demand enough to lift its share prices in the past week. This family-run company houses various brands such as Montrail, Mountain Hardware, Sorel boots aside from its main Columbia brand, making it likely to report strong revenues and earnings data next month.

Commodities

Crude oil, which had been tumbling for the most part of the year so far, enjoyed a bit of a rebound thanks partly to the winter storm. The blizzard disrupted operations in several drilling companies, keeping a lid on supply levels and preventing inventories from building up. This put a bit of upward pressure on prices, as oil producers in other parts of the world also considered the idea of reducing their production.