Comments on: Quelle Surprise! Commodities Regulators Lack Adequate Information About Their Markets

By: Juan

Juan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:30:00 +0000

It might be a good idea to not employ former lobbyists as regulators. Last August, Steven Briese made note that:

Bart Chilton is the former chief lobbyist for National Farmers Union. Jill Sommers comes to the post from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), where she was the chief lobbyist. Swap dealers aren’t regulated by the CFTC. Why would the President appoint someone from the ISDA? Oh, ya, somebody needs to protect the status quo. The CFTC’s announcement is here. See my article on the influence of swap dealers in futures markets here.
http://commitmentsoftraders.org/?p=23

A number of worthwhile articles are available at same site.

By: mxq

mxq — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:52:00 +0000

RK, per money.com:

"If speculation isn't driving spot oil prices, the (new) laws would have no effect on them. But, to the extent that something funky is going on in the futures market, a clearer picture of the market's participants and of oil's true value would emerge. That might help an ailing economy.

"You can't solve the debate without looking at what's happening," says Greenberger. "Even people who accept the supply and demand argument, must accept that the markets are too opaque. We need to look at the data, so we can know for sure."

By: RK

RK — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:32:00 +0000

The location of the above is htttp://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/img.June3testimonyO.pdf

By: RK

RK — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:23:00 +0000

I would be most grateful if someone could comment
on the Michael Greenberger testimony to congress on “the London loophole” as it relates to CFTC non monitoring of offshore exchange based energy futures
trading.

By: fuguez

fuguez — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:00:00 +0000

There is no way that anyone has a handle on the size of the OTC market. They are private arrangements between two consenting adults. Until/unless there is regulation of OTC’s such that they must be centrally documented and cleared (as may well be made to happen in credit derivatives) then everyone (including the main players – GS, MSDW and BARC ) are simply guessing.

One man’s speculator is another’s liquidity provider. People should simply grow up. There is a lot wrong with the financial markets at the moment and OTC commodity trading is simply not on that list – for now!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:17:00 +0000

“conflating factors”? Did you mean confounding factors?

Love your blog Yves!