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What can we do about Wall Street speculators that drive up gas prices?

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Reg825 Donating Member (19 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:12 PM
Original message
What can we do about Wall Street speculators that drive up gas prices?
For all it's worth, I just created a petition entitled "Tell U.S. Attorney General: enough "monitoring" high gas prices ... launch Grand Jury investigation!", because I'm just fed up with the prices (who isn't right?!)

To read more about what I'm trying to do and to sign my petition, click here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-us-attorney-general-enough-monitoring-high-gas-prices-launch-grand-jury-investigation

Here's what I've been writing on what's going on with the gas prices and "why" they're so high:

http://www.economicrefugee.net/whos-to-blame-for-high-gas-prices
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villager Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:19 PM
Response to Original message
1. elect a President who'll bring us hope and change!? Oh, wait...
n/t
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Warren DeMontague Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:20 PM
Response to Original message
2. Crack Addict To Crack Dealer: "Stop Charging So Damn Much For My Crack! It's Not Fair!"
Crack Dealer to Crack Addict: "Tough Shit."
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jtrockville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 03:07 PM
Response to Reply #2
19. We need to break the addiction. Now.
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girl gone mad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:25 PM
Response to Original message
3. Build a time machine..
and stop the implementation of the bailouts and "too big to fail". Better yet, go all the way back to Jekyll Island and put an end to that madness.
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LoZoccolo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:28 PM
Response to Original message
4. How are speculators driving up gas prices?
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MannyGoldstein Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:33 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. Try Googling "Tulip Mania" nt
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LoZoccolo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:37 AM
Response to Reply #6
11. Even if that were some kind of analogy, you don't explain how it relates to this situation.
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Snoutport Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:45 AM
Response to Reply #11
12. today in the senate the ceos of the top five gas companies were grilled
one admitted that the finished cost of everything was about $60 a barrel...they are currently selling for $100....so...the finsihed product goes into the market right now at around 60 but it is sold and resold so many times that it tacks another 40 a barrel onto the cost. Those people aren't doing anything but buying it and selling it on paper. they don't do anything, they don't ship it, they don't refine it, they don't actually ever touch it...all on paper pretty much while the oil is crossing the globe.
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LoZoccolo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:47 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. So if it's such an easy way to make money, why not join the fun?
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LoZoccolo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:48 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. Also, why don't the people selling it for $60 now, just sell it to whoever needs it for $70?
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 05:06 AM
Response to Reply #4
18. Are you familiar with J. Aron and Company?
They handle much of the commodities trading for Goldman Sachs, including oil futures.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=2763844
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MannyGoldstein Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:32 PM
Response to Original message
5. Elect a Democratic President and Congress
And fire the DINOs.
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whoneedstickets Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-12-11 11:56 PM
Response to Original message
7. disrupt the market by occasionally and randomly dumping oil
from the strategic reserve to drive prices down unexpectedly. This can't be done regularly and predictably though because then the market will anticipate it.
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izquierdista Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:08 AM
Response to Reply #7
8. Or raise the margins
Sure shook out the silver market last week.
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whoneedstickets Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:18 AM
Response to Reply #8
9. Good call..
Somebody's listening

http://seekingalpha.com/article/269142-on-commodities-and-setting-margins

"The commodity markets have been volatile of late. The tumult started in silver, which sold off dramatically after reaching post-Hunt highs. Last week the sell-off broadened to a good chunk of the commodities markets, with oil especially hard hit. In response to the roiling markets, the CME raised margins sharply on silver, and today on oil and the rest of the energy complex."
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NuttyFluffers Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 12:32 AM
Response to Original message
10. add a "sales tax" to each share being traded.
encourages long-term investment, discourages short-term speculation. as a pleasant side-effect, makes most hostile takeovers too time or cost consuming to bother with. downside, less volume trading, thus less exciting numbers to gawk at on the media screens.
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Johonny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 02:02 AM
Response to Reply #10
16. +1
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denbot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 01:53 AM
Response to Original message
15. Very simple; Make all petroleum product contracts Deliverable only.
Only true buyers and sellers would participate in the pits. Who wants to overbid on a futures contract if they actually had to take delivery.
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sharesunited Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 03:22 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. That actually harms market liquidity. I suggest DOE aggressively sell short against the SPR.
And cover those shorts at lower prices. Breaks the speculators and we don't need to release a single drop of oil.
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ParkieDem Donating Member (417 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 03:10 PM
Response to Original message
20. That's only a drop in the bucket.
Even if you buy the argument that "speculation" is driving up oil & gasoline prices (which I don't -- they're largely due to the weakening dollar), you have to understand that oil is traded on the GLOBAL market. It would take a very, very concerted effort amongst dozens of governments to really "crack down" on this practice, and the effects probably wouldn't be all that drastic, anyway.
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Reg825 Donating Member (19 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat May-14-11 06:09 PM
Response to Original message
21. Did you guys see the political theater in Capitol Hill last Friday with the Big Oil Execs?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/democratic-senator-calls-_n_861199.html

Personally, I'd like to see those subsidies that the Oil Companies get from the government just get cut off and re-route those funds to us so we can buy more fuel efficient cars like Hybrids ... however, obviously that is not going to happen, not in our wildest dreams ... unless we go after Wall Street speculators either through a Grand Jury investigation or through legislation (or both), we will continue to have high gas prices :-/
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