by Mark Thoma, University of Oregon (Department of Economics)

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Oil Prices and Speculation

Posted on August 21, 2008

The Washington Post says the scale of speculative activity in commodities markets is larger than previous estimates indicated:A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading, by David Cho, Washington Post: Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator... Even more surprising ... was the massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- a...

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commodities , commodity , crude , futures , housing , new york mercantile exchange