The story of the week continues to be the brutal cold spell that has settled across much of the U.S., putting added strain on a grid that is already stretched thin. In emergency orders issued in the past several days, Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered plants to run without limits "to mitigate blackouts." This is in addition to earlier orders DOE issued to keep several coal plants online that were set to prematurely retire. In the PJM region, which covers 13 states and Washington, D.C., coal, natural gas and nuclear have accounted for 83% of power around midday yesterday. The takeaway? We can't afford to prematurely retire well-operating plants.

It's a lesson Germany is learning the hard way. After an extensive and rapid expansion into renewables and many commitments to turn away from its coal plants, many of those same plants are now back in action, profitable, and ramping up output this month during a particularly cold spell. The plants are now even cheaper to run than gas-fired generators, and are playing a key role in keeping the lights on when demand peaks.

Finally, in the metals markets, Citigroup analysts expect spot silver prices to hit a record $150 an ounce within the next three months, continuing a record breaking run that has seen prices jump nearly 50% in January. In making its predictions, analysts said, "Silver is behaving like 'gold squared' or 'gold on steroids'."