The whole “speculators did it” theory is a crock (or barrel of something).
Where are these hedge funds storing all the oil?
No where, of course. They’re buying (and selling) futures contracts. If they buy a contract, they have to sell it before the closing date — or take delivery of the oil.
Crude Oil Advances on Weakening Dollar, Morgan Stanley Outlook
and
Prices Jump $6, Sending Stocks Down Sharply
This is the story of our times. All the rest - McClellans' revelations, the Michelle Obama tape, gay marriage, abortion, evolution, etc. - are just caffeine substitutes.
Bidding the prices up so someone else can pay.
The federal agency that oversees oil trading, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has exempted these firms from rules that limit speculative buying, a prerogative traditionally reserved for airlines and trucking companies that need to lock in future fuel costs.
The rules are there for a reason, enforce them.
The pols are trying to blame anyone and everyone for their steadfast refusal to allow us to drill our own oil.
bump
INTREP
Yesterday morning RBOB gasoline was 3.22, which is 20 cents below the recent high and would be showing up at the pump, and indeed fuel oil had backed down a couple cents. But now it is up 10 cents and 20 cents and is now 10 cents above the previous high. So forget the price at the pump reduction. It is going up another 10 cents.
NYMEX crude oil is now 138 up $10 today alone or $15 in two days
HERESY! You BARBARIAN! How DARE you question the pure and innocent intentions of the speculator market! Speculators are GOOD for the economy! Why if we didn’t have speculators driving up the price of oil, corn, wheat, soybeans and other necessary commodities we might all still be driving around and paying $2/gal for gas. And we can’t be having THAT, now can we?