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Keyword: speculators

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  • Greece’s PM Blames Speculators, Not Country’s Deficits

    03/08/2010 4:43:04 PM PST · by Slyscribe · 12 replies · 80+ views
    IBD's Capital Hill ^ | 3/8/2010 | Ed Carson
    Speculators are unfairly driving up Greece's borrowing costs, charged Prime Minister George Papandreou. He’s seeking U.S. support for having the G-20 take the lead in a crackdown. That follows French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who on Sunday called for a European crackdown. EU officials may meet on credit default swaps next week. Some would fault Greece’s huge deficit, history of poor finances and dodgy data. But as Megan McArdle points out, it’s so much more fun for politicians to blame shadowy speculators
  • U.S. Probes Bearish Euro Bets

    03/03/2010 2:28:54 AM PST · by reaganaut1 · 19 replies · 778+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | March 3, 2010 | Susan Pulliam and Kate Kelly
    The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether hedge funds might have banded together to drive down the value of the euro, people familiar with the matter say. In a letter last week, the department has asked hedge funds including SAC Capital Advisors LP, Greenlight Capital Inc., Soros Fund Management LLC and Paulson & Co. to retain trading records and emails relating to the euro, say people who have seen the letter. The letter was dated Feb. 26, the same day a page-one article in The Wall Street Journal outlined a large bet being made in recent weeks by...
  • The intellectual indolence of those who attack speculators

    07/28/2009 7:05:10 PM PDT · by publius321 · 10 replies · 510+ views
    Table Of Wisdom ^ | 7/28/09 | MrArbitrage
    The big story this week: regulators considering setting limits on Wall Street speculators Forget additional position limits. Ceding that kind of authority to elected imbeciles is probably just as bad if not worse than the actual disease. It is a slippery slope, like allowing these buffoons to determine salaries. I think I would prefer to see the leverage abated. I have heard compelling arguments on the “pro” side of changing margin requirements but not too many “cons”. I don’t think that controlling copious quantities of commodities which are essential to human sustenance -with 10 cents on the dollar- is some...
  • Energy prices tumble, gasoline leads the way

    06/19/2009 12:41:05 PM PDT · by Kartographer · 20 replies · 1,144+ views
    AP/GoogleNews ^ | 6/19/09 | CHRIS KAHN
    Gasoline markets exhibited the first signs that an extended rally in pump prices is nearing an end after 52 straight days on the rise. Gasoline futures started falling midweek after a government report showed a huge surplus. Already, wholesale gasoline prices in key markets like the Gulf Coast and Chicago had begun to fade. Should prices continue to fall on the New York Mercantile Exchange, cheaper gas may be on the way for motorists.
  • I MUST HAVE MISSED IT...

    05/21/2009 3:24:23 AM PDT · by wny · 27 replies · 1,176+ views
    Gasoline bottomed out at $1.75. Now it's $2.50. That's a 43% increase in a few months. Where's the howls of outrage from the MSMwhores? Where's the daily update on the previous days increase and the nationwide average? Where are the sob stories about people having to do without (fill in the blank) due to paying so much more for gas?
  • EIA raises global oil demand decline forecast

    02/12/2009 4:55:49 PM PST · by Danae · 12 replies · 365+ views
    Oil and Gas Journal ^ | Feb 11, 2009 | Nick Snow
    Nick Snow OGJ Washington Editor WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 11 -- Global petroleum demand will fall by another 400,000 b/d during 2009 as economic conditions worsen, the US Energy Information Administration said on Feb. 10 in its latest short-term energy outlook. EIA now projects that worldwide oil consumption will drop by 1.2 million b/d this year as a deteriorating world economy and a weak oil consumption outlook keep the market well supplied despite two downward revisions in the last 2 months by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Reduced demand and rising surplus production capacity through at least mid-2009 reduce the...
  • Oil speculation: It's back

    12/01/2008 7:30:01 AM PST · by thackney · 21 replies · 953+ views
    Fortune, CNN ^ | December 1, 2008 | Jon Birger
    With oil now at $50 a barrel, you no longer hear Congress complaining about oil speculators. The irony is there's probably more real speculation going on today than there ever was back in June and July. I'm talking about the type of speculation that involves hoarding oil today so it can be sold for more down the road. Today's speculators are actually buying oil. They're not merely flipping futures contracts without taking delivery - which is what hedge funds and commodities index funds were doing when they were in the crosshairs of Congress this summer. As I've argued before, investors...
  • Vultures circle Wall Street, but hesitate to feed

    10/10/2008 12:39:25 PM PDT · by IndianPrincessOK · 15 replies · 530+ views
    Breibart ^ | 10/10/08 | DAVID B. CARUSO-AP
    NEW YORK (AP) - When financial panic sweeps Bedford Falls in the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life," the villain, Mr. Potter, moves to snap up the Bailey Savings & Loan, offering a fire-sale price of 50 cents on the dollar. "I may lose a fortune," Potter says with a smirk. The picture's hero, George Bailey, knows better. "He's picking up some bargains," he tells stockholders. That kind of bold opportunism has made capitalists rich for centuries. Now, legions of like-minded bargain-hunters stand ready to do some Potter-style shopping of their own amid the nation's financial crisis. "Vulture" investors, as...
  • McCain Suspends Campaign to Help With Bailout

    09/24/2008 11:52:13 AM PDT · by Qwackertoo · 1,663 replies · 54,210+ views
    FoxNews ^ | 9/24/08 | Sharon Kehnemui Liss, FOXNews.com
    <p>I just saw this on Fox News by Carl Cameron.</p>
  • AP: FBI Investigating Fannie, Freddie, Lehman & AIG

    09/23/2008 4:14:03 PM PDT · by jern · 231 replies · 1,004+ views
    Fox News
    AP: FBI Investigating Fannie, Freddie, Lehman & AIG
  • Pelosi: House Took Strong Action Today to Curb Excessive Speculation in Energy Futures Markets

    09/18/2008 2:17:30 PM PDT · by Sub-Driver · 29 replies · 117+ views
    Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 09/18/2008 Pelosi: House Took Strong Action Today to Curb Excessive Speculation in Energy Futures Markets Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on House passage of the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act, legislation that takes crucial, common-sense steps to curb excessive speculation in the energy futures markets. The bill passed the House overwhelmingly by a vote of 283 to 133, and now goes to the Senate. “This week, the Democratic-Led Congress has taken serious and comprehensive steps to ensure American energy independence and help consumers with...
  • As Oil Speculators Lose Backing, Market Exodus Could Ripple

    09/16/2008 8:38:27 PM PDT · by MinorityRepublican · 41 replies · 225+ views
    The Wall Street Journal ^ | SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 | GREGORY MEYER
    Evaporating access to credit and fears of an economic washout are taking a toll on oil prices, forcing speculators using borrowed money out of the market. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s sudden bankruptcy filing and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s pending sale to Bank of America Corp. suggest big banks may be less willing or able to absorb debt to boost trading positions, with implications for the inherently leveraged oil-futures markets. Analysts believe that could have a ripple effect on other speculative investors in the market. Widespread liquidation of futures contracts compounded fears of faltering oil demand in knocking oil down near...
  • See You Later, Speculator............(politicians wanted a fall guy)

    09/15/2008 5:55:33 AM PDT · by IrishMike · 11 replies · 174+ views
    WSJ ^ | September 15, 2008 | editorial
    It was said to be the year of speculators gone wild. Seemingly everyone in Washington, including Barack Obama and John McCain, decided that oil prices were soaring because profiteers and middlemen were manipulating the futures markets. "Speculators" were spotted everywhere this side of the grassy knoll. The only problem is that there's no evidence to support the conspiracy theories -- and sure enough, federal regulators dismantled this Beltway consensus late last week. In one of the broadest and most authoritative studies to date, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has offered hard statistical data that financial trading hasn't been driving price...
  • Speculators' Reprieve

    09/11/2008 5:34:39 PM PDT · by Kaslin · 10 replies · 144+ views
    IBD Editorials ^ | September 11, 2008
    Energy: As oil ran up over the last two years, Congress and the media had a field day blaming speculators. But a new report shows they were unfairly scapegoated.The long-awaited report to Congress on speculation comes as the price of oil on global markets has fallen to nearly $100 a barrel — a drop of 32% since peaking at $147.27 on July 11. In its report, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said this year's spike in crude futures appears to be due to "an appreciation of the value of existing investments caused by the rise in crude oil prices and...
  • Lehman-backed hedge fund fails as oil play peters out

    09/03/2008 7:25:47 AM PDT · by DGHoodini · 24 replies · 928+ views
    BBC via Bloggingstocks ^ | Sep 3rd 2008 | Peter Cohan
    BBC News reports that another hedge fund has closed down thanks to its failure to bail out of the oil speculation trade that boosted oil to a peak of $147 in July. This is yet another piece of evidence that people like Hank Paulson, who insisted that record oil prices were due to supply and demand, were either being less than honest -- particularly since his former employer Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) was a big beneficiary of this speculation -- or ignorant of reality. The hedge fund in question this time is Ospraie Fund, which invested in commodities like...
  • Why Oil Will Keep Falling

    08/05/2008 8:40:13 AM PDT · by rightinthemiddle · 71 replies · 181+ views
    YooHoo! Finance ^ | Monday, August 4, 2008, 12:00AM | Ben Stein
    I'm not much of a believer in conspiracy theories. I've seen up close and personal how wrong they were in the case of my old boss, Richard M. Nixon. He was not a criminal mastermind. He was not paying attention to a bunch of juvenile delinquent aides and they did him dirt. It was a case of an absent minded father, not a KGB plot. But every so often something happens in the world of finance that is at least a bit like a conspiracy. The Drexel-Milken junk bond fraud was a conspiracy, at least as I saw it (though...
  • Oil prices jump to $126 a barrel on Iran concerns

    08/03/2008 9:58:39 PM PDT · by Fred · 15 replies · 52+ views
    forbes.com ^ | 08.04.08, 12:34 AM ET | ALEX KENNEDY
    Oil prices jumped Monday in Asia on concern that a showdown over Iran's nuclear program could threaten crude supplies out of the Middle East. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday that the United States would have no choice "but to begin again to prepare sanctions resolutions for the (U.N.) Security Council" if Iran did not halt the development of its uranium enrichment program. Rice said that given the U.N.'s current scheduling, sanctions probably could not be expected in the next few weeks, but the U.S. will begin working with allies toward that goal. "There's concern about a potential...
  • Energy markets and speculators Congress looks for a bogeyman

    07/28/2008 4:43:23 AM PDT · by Delacon · 19 replies · 117+ views
    ReviewJournal.com ^ | Jul. 28, 2008
    Calling President Bush's proposal to lift the 18-year moratorium on new offshore oil drilling "a political gimmick" that he will not allow to come to the floor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is instead pushing his own proposal, a bill requiring the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to curb excessive speculation in energy markets.The bill, which stalled Friday when Sen. Reid was unable to find 60 votes to overcome GOP demands for numerous amendments including one to allow more offshore drilling, would require traders to provide more information about over-the-counter transactions, and also adds restrictions to U.S.-based traders buying and...
  • Government uncovers oil price manipulation

    07/24/2008 10:07:32 AM PDT · by Red in Blue PA · 55 replies · 55+ views
    CNN/MONEY ^ | 7/24/2008 | By Steve Hargreaves
    NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The government charged an oil trading firm Thursday with manipulating oil prices, the first complaint to be announced since the regulators began a new investigation into wrongdoings in the energy markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused Optiver Holding, two of its subsidiaries, and three employees, with manipulation and attempted manipulation of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange. "Optiver traders amassed large trading positions, then conducted trades in such a way to bully and hammer the markets," CFTC Acting Chairman Walt Lukken said at a press conference. "These charges...
  • Bill to rein in oil speculators wins test vote

    07/22/2008 1:33:55 PM PDT · by 300magnum · 35 replies · 68+ views
    Reuters ^ | Tue Jul 22 | Tom Doggett and Thomas Ferraro
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic-backed bill to rein in energy market speculators blamed for high crude oil and gasoline prices cleared a U.S. Senate procedural hurdle on Tuesday, but final passage of the legislation remained uncertain. Supporters mustered far more than the 60 votes needed in the 100-member Senate to proceed with the measure, with 94 senators voting "yes" and none against. Yet Republicans may still block a vote on approving the bill unless amendments are added to increase U.S. oil production, such as expanding offshore drilling and developing oil shale fields in the West. The Senate legislation would require...