Comment Text:
10-002
COMMENT
CL-07769
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
[email protected]
Friday, April 16, 2010 3:33 AM
secretary
Proposed Speculative Position Limits on Energy
Elbert Edgenton
P.O.Box 830936
Richardson, TX 75083-0936
April 16, 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 that will reestablish speculative position limits on maj or
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 related 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 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 of speculators and prevent excessive
concentration in the energy markets, while 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 already10-002
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weakened economy.
What is odd about this government's understanding is that without oil the
whole economy is shutdown. Oil should be a utility rather than a commodity.
It should be regulated since it impacts all industries.The one thing that
would help with the speculating is get the investment banks out the
speculation business.What sense does is it make for a bank(s) to speculate
on oil prices if they have no means to store, refine, or distribute
it?They have been the root cause of the run-up which has had nothing to do
with demand as Wall Street claimed. This should be a true demand driven
entity without speculators. Speculators are not risking anything, they
don't provide an infrastructure or provide jobs. They are only lining
their pockets and the Washington bureaucrats they deal with.New policy has
to be created to stem this behavior.
Sincerely,
Elbert
N.
Edgenton
972-699-1867
