First, a sudden jump, then level for a few weeks, then another surge. And, now, for the last four weeks, it’s been steady again. (Okay, jerkily steady—but it’s not bulling up or bearing down.) The jump on the far left began on the first day of the New Year, the day after President Obama signed the new sanctions into law. Since then, the price has risen almost 16 percent. Is that the price of sanctions? The drama can be seen better in the monthly chart (below), which shows that the stagnant price that prevailed through much of 2011 is definitely over now.