As a reporter covering the futures markets, it’s not often that the mainstream media has its eye on what’s going on in my world. But on my way past a newsstand this afternoon, I noticed that the front pages of both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (admittedly, not quite as mainstream) featured stories about the thing that’s got traders buzzing again: Washington attacks on speculators. The speculation blame game is nothing new (in fact, this time last year several mainstream media outlets got into the act of covering it, including 60 Minutes, in an infamous and much-maligned-within-the-industry piece). Last summer there were hearings galore in the House and Senate blaming speculators for the rising price of oil, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said all evidence was to the contrary. But this time, it’s different.
This time the attacks are actually coming from the CFTC, as new Chairman Gary Gensler announced that the agency would consider imposing position limits in the energy markets. It’s part of a larger regultory overhaul by the Obama Administration that has heated up over the past few months and includes the proposal for regulatory reform released in mid-June. It’ll be interesting to see how this latest round of regulatory wrangling is covered by the mainstream media, and how it shakes up the futures industry. We’ll have the latest reaction to recent regulatory developments in the August issue of Futures magazine, online July 23.
Tags: Barack Obama, CFTC, Gary Gensler, New York Times, speculators, Wall Street Journal
