Wondering about those crude oil prices?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: August 23, 2008 12:10:31 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Wondering about those crude oil prices?

[Note:  This item comes from reader Randall.  DLH]

From: Randall Webmail <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: August 21, 2008 7:40:59 PM PDT
To: dewayne () warpspeed com, johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com
Subject: Wondering about those crude oil prices?

A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading 21 Aug 2008  
Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate  
called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that  
needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures  
Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that  
the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a  
profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual  
delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was  
the massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- at one point in July, the  
firm held 11 percent of all the oil contracts on the regulated New  
York Mercantile Exchange. The discovery revealed how an individual  
financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without  
the knowledge of regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant  
amount of trading activity was concentrated in the hands of just a few  
speculators.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR2008082003898.html 
>
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