Comment Text:
Robert Becker
1907 Straits View Dr.
Tiburon, CA 94920-1820
March 24, 2011
David Stawick
Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Dear Mr. Stawick:
This issue has bothered me more than any other issue facing the nation because it is the one which is hurting the recovery the most.Four dollar + gasoline is ridiculous any if the money were going to reduce our ADDICTION TO OIL it would be one thing but instead it is going into large speculators pockets. This has to stop now. For Christs sakes do something before this mess gets worse.
Excessive speculation hurt the economy in 2008 and, once again, is harming the economy in 2011. 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.
We need meaningful, effective speculative position limits to restore balance to commodities markets and ensure that they are connected to market fundamentals, so 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. Our pocketbooks and the broader economy depend on it.
Sincerely,
Robert Becker
4154355200
