Comment Text:
David Stawick, Secretary
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20581
COMMENT
10-002
COMMENT
CL-02699
...... ~,,
,nL oLuIRe: Proposed Speculative Position Limits on Energy
Dear Mr. Stawick:
I am writing in support of the CFTC's Proposed Federal Speculative Position Limits that
will reestablish speculative position limits on major 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 re-
lated 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 volatil-
ity 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.
Positi6n limits existed in energy markets until 2001 and currently apply to agricultural
commodities. CFTC should use its existing experience to regulate position limits of specu-
lators and prevent excessive concentration in the energy markets, while ensuring that ex-
emptions 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 already weakened economy.
Adri~
221 Kipling Street
Palo Alto, Calif. 94301
