Comment Text:
To: Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
[email protected]
In the past decade of my 54-year life, I have seen the greatest amount of fiscal harm done to this great nation by the three branches of our government. However, running a very close second place are the speculators - particularly, those of commodities. Not only has the price of a cheap loaf of bread gone from 99 cents to nearly $4 per loaf, the wheat flour to make the bread ourselves has risen, too. It used to cost me approximately 48 cents to bake a loaf of bread. In today's economy, it now costs me double that. Additional speculation in coal, oil, and gas has risen my electric bill to the point where that per-loaf cost is nearing $1.80 each. This is just one small example of how my family life changes every time speculators engage in the most least-factually-based practice in the free market society.
Speculators have driven commodity prices through the roof. Has anyone really studied the definition of 'speculate?' Here is the definition as described at Dictionary.com:
Speculate: to engage in any business transaction involving considerable risk or the chance of large gains, especially to buy and sell commodities, stocks, etc., in the expectation of a quick or very large profit. (emphasis mine)
While we here in the United States enjoy a free and open market, that same market does have its pitfalls. The largest one is speculation - on oil, coal, sugar, wheat, corn, etc. These speculators use their personal "vision" of the "future" to drive up prices. This not only affects the commodity in question, but every other marketable item manufactured from or with these commodities, including transportation. As oil prices rise, and the commodity in question rises, it smacks every single consumer who purchases U.S. goods with a one-two punch. Not only does the commodity become less affordable, but so does the transportation of that commodity.
Now, there's little we can do about oil prices at this point since our leadership seems to prefer to SIT on ripe American oil fields rather than harvest them, but there IS something that you can do to ease the burden and normalize prices. Please put rational thought back into speculation! There is no need to have financial gurus guessing about the future when they only do harm by it. (i.e., speculating IS a guessing game, albeit based on actual factors, with varied scenarios from each individual speculator's "vision" of his or her future).
I'm not saying speculation shouldn't occur in the commodities marketplace; quite the contrary. However, any speculation must have reasonable cause, and reasonable calculations. These astronomic and idiotic price increases must STOP NOW. Please pull in the reins on overzealous and over-eager speculators and stop the runaway train of massive price inflation. If speculators are wrong, they lose money - but so does the American citizen and U.S. resident who never asked and never wanted people to play a guessing game with their future.
Additionally, speculators MUST be held accountable for the damage to our economy that they have perpetrated. Every human is responsible for their overt actions in this life. If there are inadequate checks and balances on speculators, we will only continue this chaotic practice until we have priced ourselves into an abyss.
Respecfully,
Margaret Hays
Cantonment, FL
PS - As a former small military newspaper editor, we editors know to look for speculation in factual news stories and to avoid it at all cost. It is the riskiest and most irresponsible form of communication, particularly in this age of "instant news." Speculation on any particular matter can bring disastrous consequences. It is the same with fiscal speculation. People's hard-earned money should NOT be the victim of wild or unrestrained speculation; no, not even mild or moderate speculation. Money is a cold, hard fact when your life has little of it. Please enjoin speculators from playing around with the future of our buying power and choking us in unnecessary debt. This nation has enough debt as it is.
