Comment Text:
Daniel Teigen
527 Cottonwood ST NE
Lonsdale, MN 55046-5500
March 24, 2011
David Stawick
Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Dear Mr. Stawick:
I am writing to urge you to protect the American common-man from the far-reaching financial hardships brought on from excessive speculation in the in energy markets. According to data recently released by the Commission, speculators have raised their positions in energy markets by
64 percent compared to June 2008, bringing speculation to the highest level on record.
I believe the commodities markets have been and continue to be a playground for harmful manipulation - so much so that they are disconnected to market fundamentals. I believe it is your responsibility to ensure that they fulfill their price-discovery function properly and without distortions caused by excessive speculation. In particular, I:
• support the Commission's immediate adoption of spot-month speculative position limits; • urge the Commission to adopt effective back-month levels that will accomplish the legislative purpose of curbing excessive speculation; • urge the Commission to adopt single-month limits that are no higher than two-thirds of the all-months-combined levels; • urge the Commission immediately to adopt a position-accountability regime for the nonspot months in place of its proposed position-visibility rule; and • urge the Commission to adopt lower speculative position limits for passive, long-only traders.
Time is of the essence, and I urge you to act quickly. I believe my middle-class lifestyle - and in a big-picture sense, the American economy depends on it.
Sincerely,
Daniel Teigen
507-744-3781
