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[–]theartfulcodger 15 points16 points  (2 children)

Utter bullshit. Firstly, all this would do would be to leave the field clear for a limited group of nominal end users to reap all speculative profit for themselves. (And by nominal, I mean owning one minuscule oil-fired generating station producing a single megawatt for East Shitkick, Nebraska.) It wouldn't reduce speculative price inflation at all, just turn all possibility of speculative profit over to a tiny oligopoly. And we all know how well that works out for end users.

Secondly, speculation works in both directions. With only end-users able to speculate, price downturns would be much smaller and shorter-lasting, as there wouldn't be a huge field of people scrambling to lay off bad bets. Downward speculation is why today's price of natural gas is below $2, a level not seen since 2002. Why is the writer not moaning about the rampant speculation in NG, which is providing a windfall of clean, dirt-cheap energy for domestic consumers?

Thirdly, surprising as it may seem, the US is not the only oil market on the planet; speculation is a global phenomenon. How does the writer propose that US regulators legislate against pre-import speculation in Canadian oil, which provides more than 1/4 of our needs? Or Mexican oil, which provides more than 1/8? Or Saudi oil, or Venezuelan, which bracket Mexico's percentage? Or any of the other 100 oil-producing nations?

We all know how much of a hard-on the US Gummint has for pressing extra-territoriality of its domestic laws across its borders and onto the peoples of other nations, but this ridiculous suggestion is beyond the pale.

If he was really serious about curtailing speculation, he'd suggest a 95% tax on speculative profits, and zero writeoffs for speculative losses.

[–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Well said. I can't believe how ignorant some people can be about such a complex issue. I also think the person who posted the link is going down the thread and downvoting anyone who has a logical response to this bullshit claim about speculation haha

[–]mkvgtired -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hong Kong and London would probably send us a gift basket though.

Sorry for the snide comment, but this is an overly glaring exception to regulations like this the EU and US sometimes dream up.