Comment Text:
Dave Edwards
111 Jenny Road
Grantville, GA 30220-2134
February 16, 2012
David Stawick
Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Dear Mr. Stawick:
Today we read that Brent crude oil continues its upward march, as Brent
crude crossed the $120 per barrel mark and continued its climb into the
afternoon. Yesterday, Brent crude hit a session peak of $119.99, the
highest intraday price since last August, and settled at $118.93, the
highest settlement since June 2011. At 4 p.m. ET today, Brent was trading
at around $121.50 per barrel.
Excessive speculation has hurt the economy since 2008 and, once again, is
harming the economy in 2012. According to data released over the past few
months by the Commission, speculators have raised their positions in
energy markets by at least 64 percent compared to June 2008, bringing
speculation to the highest level on record.
We need meaningful, effective speculative position limits to restore
balance to commodities markets and ensure that they are connected to
market fundamentals, so that they fulfill their price-discovery function
properly and without distortions caused by excessive speculation. In
particular, I:
- support the Commission's immediate adoption of spot-month speculative
position limits; - urge the Commission to adopt effective back-month
levels that will accomplish the legislative purpose of curbing excessive
speculation; - urge the Commission to adopt single-month limits that are
no higher than two-thirds of the all-months-combined levels; - urge the
Commission immediately to adopt a position-accountability regime for the
nonspot months in place of its proposed position-visibility rule; and -
urge the Commission to adopt lower speculative position limits for
passive, long-only traders.
Time is of the essence, and I urge you to act quickly. Our pocketbooks
and the broader economy depend on it.
Sincerely,
Dave Edwards
404-773-8890
