Nelson: bring oil traders out of shadows into light of day

[The Straight Story]

Nelson: bring oil traders out of shadows into light of day

January 13, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last June, Florida Democrat Bill Nelson filed legislation in the U.S. Senate to ban all unregulated buying and selling of oil by Wall Street firms and other energy traders. He was among the first in Congress to argue that financiers were largely to blame for the spectacular run up of oil and gasoline prices.

What Congress did instead, as part of last fall’s broader farm bill, was require disclosure on the part of oil speculators - but only aimed at their biggest trades. Nelson’s bill would fully close the "Enron loophole" – so-called because it was at the behest of the corrupt energy company that Congress voted in 2000 to allow unregulated trading in commodities, like oil.

Nelson reintroduced the bill today to end the shadowy trading practice by subjecting all commodities trading to federal regulation, saying, “We must ensure that Wall Street doesn’t again take advantage of lax regulation to drive up the price of oil.”

His new bill comes on the heels of a 60 Minutes report Sunday that clearly explained the extraordinary volatility of oil prices. In essence, the report showed, a flood of money from Wall Street and hedge funds poured into commodities futures in recent years and distorted the markets. As one expert on the broadcast suggested: the biggest oil company in America is Morgan Stanley.

The broadcast also said there was no increase in demand, or supply interruptions, to justify last year’s spike in oil prices. In fact, actual demand was going down while supply was going up.

As far back as two years ago, Nelson noted today, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report finding that lax federal oversight of oil and gas traders was due to a loophole slipped into law at the behest of the infamous Enron Corp. “We need to bring that industry out of the darkness of the shadows and into the full light of day,” he said.

http://billnelson.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=306587&

[CrazyLate]

1. And while we're at it

Let's shine some light on the OTC derivatives market and the criminals who are busily bankrupting us with their ponzi schemes.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. Good!

[jpak]

3. K&R

and about fucking time these crooks got theirs

and fuck you Phil Gramm

[HowHasItComeToThis]

4. BRING BACK THE UPTICK RULE

[blueworld]

5. Most excellent & read Bob Herbert

The 60 Minutes segment confirmed what many of "we who are ignorant" were saying for months or longer. Our refining capacity hasn't increased/decreased, the weather was swell, yet the price of oil was on a roller-coaster. Huh? All the MSM bloviators kept parroting was "supply/demand". Ya momma.

Now, I would like to see Bob Herbert's suggestion implemented "toot sweet" - a transaction tax on ridiculous speculators would ostensibly slow them down long enough for Congress to craft some serious, decent regulation legislation and net some revenue in the bargain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/opinion/13herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

[Fireweed247]

6. I want my money back!!

:grr:

[sarcasmo]

7. That was a good piece sixty minutes did, I hope some truth will come out about the traders.

[Fireweed247]

8. I am so glad this is coming out

It seemed so obvious after prices started coming down, what happened to their supply and demand excuse?

The most interesting thing is the bastards that stole all our money, then needed a bailout? And now apparently, they need another.

What the hell is going on in this country? Are we already an idiocracy? Is it something in the water?
Top 11 compounds in US drinking water
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16397-top-11-compounds-in-us-drinking-water.html

[jpak]

9. Kicking - these assholes stole your "stimulus" checks last summer

This is hugh...

[hedgehog]

10. And while we're at it, would someone look into the fact that when gasoline

prices go up in California, so does the price for my natural gas in New York?