Comment Text:
10-002
COMMENT
CL-02924
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
waterschrisj
100@yahoo.
com
Tuesday, April
13, 2010 9:43 PM
secretary
Proposed Speculative Position Limits on Energy
Christopher Waters
28 Williams Lane
Rossville, GA 30741-4071
April 13, 2010
David Stawick
Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Dear Mr. Stawick:
I am writing in support of the CFTC's Proposed Federal Speculative
Position Limits that will reestablish speculative position limits on maj or
energy commodities. This rule will provide stability to the marketplace
and help prevent future price bubbles. The CFTC must quickly approve a
strong rule to protect America's struggling economy. Wall Street's
speculative trading in oil not only hurts the economy, but hurts every
American who pays excessive prices at the pump, for groceries, home
heating oil and everything related to transportation.
Our tax dollars were used to bail out large Wall Street firms when they
were on the brink of bankruptcy. It is these same institutions that
pushed the price of gasoline well past $4 per gallon in 2008 by gambling
on oil and continue to profit at every American's expense.
Rampant oil speculation by large Wall Street trading firms has resulted in
extreme volatility in energy markets and unwarranted price spikes in
recent years. Given that supplies are at record highs and demand remains
weak, fundamentals cannot explain recent price hikes and destructive price
swings. Unless the CFTC adopts the proposed rule, markets will continue to
fluctuate wildly.
Position limits existed in energy markets until 2001 and currently apply
to agricultural commodities. CFTC should use its existing experience to
regulate position limits of speculators and prevent excessive
concentration in the energy markets, while ensuring that exemptions to
these limits afforded to real physical players such as fuel cooperatives,
public utilities, truckers and airlines are not exploited by big banks and
billionaire investors.
Energy consumers desperately need stability in the marketplace. I
encourage the CFTC to adopt the Proposed Federal Speculative Position
Limits before volatile fuel prices further harm the country's already10-002
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weakened economy.
Remember, the average working-class family is struggling to make ends meet
due to massive job losses and lowered wages. The majority of the problem
has to do with the oil speculation on Wall Street. I work in the trucking
industry and have seen first hand how the high prices of diesel in the
summer of 2008 absolutely destroyed America's economy. Trucking companies
left and right went under because they could not afford the price of fuel,
which was near $5 per gallon. Luckily, though we've had major cuts of our
own, our company survived this crisis, but many didn't. Businesses had to
shut down because of rising freight prices due to the cost of fuel. It
all trickled downhill from the trucking industry to nearly every industry
in America. I speak to many people everyday wanting a job in trucking
because they have nowhere else to turn. Many of them have worked in the
same place for 20+ years and were laid off due to how bad things got. We
know where it all started, and what we got was the result of pure investor
greed. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN--THIS IS AMERICA!!! We need to stop them
before they ruin not only our economy but other economies around the
world. It all trickles downhill--remember that. If it keeps up, we could
be staring in the eyes of another Great Depression or worse.
Thank you for listening to the voices of the American people!
Sincerely,
Christopher Waters
423-326-5741
