Comment Text:
If it is not blindingly obvious by now, then I guess it never will be: the commodities market is wildly out of control and doing enormous harm to consumers of most commodities, by grossly exaggerating their value through speculative investments which have absolutely no connection to the commodity or the fundamentals of supply and demand. The current explosion in the cost of crude, distillates and gasoline are in response to a POTENTIAL supply crunch months down the line. This is absurd. Months from now, we might very well be saying, "False alarm. No supply crunch materialized" In the meantime, we've shipped billions to OPEC countries, many of whom would love to see us - let's say "fail". If we don't limit hedge fund and other speculators' investments, the price of many commodities will be excessive, harmful and lower the standard of living for most people, but especially those on the lower rungs of of the socio-economic ladder. Wall Street has limitless opportunities to make their billions without encouraging destructive investments in essential commodities like oil, corn, wheat, cotton ad infinitum. Thanks for listening and I wish you the wisdom and strength to rein in powerful special interests which knowingly or not are seriously damaging the standard of living of most people, but especially the most vulnerable.
