Sanders to fight oil speculators, accuses chief regulator of breaking the law

Originally posted by projectvxn
I say ban all speculators and you'd still see world wide price ramping on all commodities.

The world has now had TWO Big BIG OIL men state that speculation is driving up the cost
tremendously, Hoffmiester and Tillerman have both stated the same. How about ban speculation
an see??? Very simply put, speculations point is to profit, that profit is typically born by a commodity
premium being inflated. It is a foriegn to the market cost that also inflates all fungible commodities
too.

reply to post by Janky Red


You don't think these oil men are benefiting from a devalued dollar? Going after speculators is small potatoes compared to what the Fed is doing.

Politicians scapegoating speculators as a means of diverting attention away from their own egregious spending habits is as predictable as night following day.

When gasoline prices spike they cite over-speculation to pacify a disgruntled constituent base. But when prices fall, it's because OPEC ramped production, refinery utilization is up, global demand is down, or some other basic fundamental like a decline in crack spreads or high inventories. Speculators buy prices up, and sell prices down based on these fundamental inputs. Without specs to provide market liquidity, price discovery, and assume risk on behalf of producers, the commodities exchange would cease to exist.

If politicos want to blame speculation when prices rise, they likewise have to credit speculation when prices fall...but that my friends will never happen.

reply to post by projectvxn


I agree with you that inflation is partially to blame but there have been several cases of speculators buying up oil and basically hiding it to manipulate the market and drive up prices. Why should i not believe that there aren't more companies out there doing the same? It just reminds me of the age old buy it, hide it create a shortage and sell it at a much higher price. Like i said i totally agree with you that inflation is also to blame but not all the speculators are just innocent middlemen, as i would also agree that not all speculators are evil demons like some people would make it out.

I think i remember you telling me that you used to be in the precious metals trade. How do you feel about Silver Rule 7, do you think that regulation should be eliminated? Also VXN, your one of the few people on the net that seems to have civil debate skills, i applaud you sir.