Same old crap. They do this every time prices start to climb inordinately at the pump. The question they ought to be asking themselves is this: will consumers be angrier having gas at $3.70 per gallon, or no gas at $3.00 per gallon?
That is a very good point, FRiend.
The SEC is often asleep or compromised or otherwise unable to act even when illegal price manipulations are apparent. In addition to the SEC's weaknesses in personnel and vigilance, oil and most other major commodity markets are world wide and no longer dominated by US producers and customers.
The US commodity market regulatory regime thus does not and cannot extend to foreign state run companies and cannot effectively police them or foreign cartels, hedge funds, and syndicates. In effect, the people who are often to blame for commodity price manipulations are commonly beyond the reach of US law.
In some instances, as with the DeBeers diamond cartel, the company's principals and representatives avoid travel to the US for fear of getting arrested or at least subpoenaed. And some countries like Switzerland and Dubai are notorious as havens for commodity manipulators.
Nevertheless, in the long run, no one is beyond the reach of the laws of economics. The development of US oil and gas reserves, cheap substitute fuels like methanol, and wider exploration at home and abroad will help to keep fuel prices lower and more stable than they would otherwise be. Shale oil and gas are especially important in the near and medium term, with new nuclear energy sources and reactor designs being essential in coming decades.
Yep - they demonize the speculators with no sense of the whole picture. While they earn a buck, they also open up to the possibility of losing a buck and smooth out the spikes and dips. Obama said he just wished the price had been slower and smoother - his policies made it move quicker, but the speculators kept it smoother - he ought to express gratitude.....