Comment Text:
Chairman Gary Gensler and members of the CFTC,
I hereby write this letter as a concerned citizen urging you to include spot commodities trading as part of the Volcker Rule and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Over the past three years, we have seen the price of gasoline rise over 100%. In the same time period, domestic demand has fallen significantly.
The rise in gasoline prices can be mostly attributed to two issues, only one of which is in the scope of this agency to address. This issue is the security and distribution of the oil supply, which is inherently tied to geopolitical politics.
The second and more significant issue, one in which this regulatory body can directly affect, is the trading of oil futures and the rampant speculation among petroleum traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
If the goal of the Volcker Rule is to curb speculative proprietary trading at many large banks, then on what grounds does it makes sense to not include commodities in all this?
It is with this rationale in mind that I urge you, as someone who's life is both far removed but also greatly affected from the day-to-day activities of Wall Street and of regulators like yourselves, to include spot commodity trading in the Volcker rule and begin to regulate vigorously the excesses that have been let pass for the passed decade.
Respectfully,
Stephen Schmitz
