Comment Text:
10-002
COMMENT
CL-04265
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
[email protected]
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 11:38 AM
secretary
Proposed Speculative Position Limits on Energy
MF McAuliffe
338 NE Roth
Portland, OR 97211-1082
April 13, 2010
David Stawick
Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Dear Mr. Stawick:
I am writing in support of the CFTC's Proposed Federal Speculative
Position Limits, which are designed to 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
distorts the economy, but gouges every American who pays excessive prices
at the pump, for groceries, home heating oil, and everything related to
transportation.
And everything is related to transportation.
Taxes paid by working people 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 volatility 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.
Position limits existed in energy markets until 2001 and currently apply
to agricultural commodities.
CFTC should use its existing experience to regulate position limits of10-002
COMMENT
CL-04265
speculators and prevent excessive concentration in the energy markets,
~vhile ensuring that exemptions 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
~veakened economy.
Sincerely,
MFMcAuliffe
503-381-4182
