you guys have no idea what you are talking about regarding oil speculators
anyone can be an oil speculator, even you.
If you are so sure oil is over valued all you have to do is plunk down 7k and short an oil contract and watch the money roll in if you are right.
If the hedge funds are long oil and they are wrong, the market will kick their rears.
they control the market at the margin. Greenspan gave testimony to the senate about a month back on the oil markets, how it has been transformed by the hedge funds into an investment vehicle, rather then a market where sellers and buyers of physical oil determine the price.
its one thing to allow speculators to bid up prices for stocks et al to whatever they want. no one is forcing me to buy google stock. but we all have to buy oil, and to allow these machinations in the market to occur, is simply a huge wealth transfer from middle class consumers to wealthy hedge funds players.
I said as much.