Comment Text:
Joseph P Egan
14438 Military Rd S
Tukwila, WA 98168-4256
March 24, 2011
David Stawick
Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Dear Mr. Stawick:
Purchase of any futures should be limited to the first invester purchase only. That invester should not be able to resell ownership of that comodity until it is ready for immediate delivery.
Most of the inflation of commodity prices is due to the sales tactics of investment advisors encouraging people to invest in futures of commodities so they can get commissions. They get commissions from each transaction, in or out.
An equal cause is the extreme increase in the number of suddenly wealthy young people such as from the technology boom. There are 400 billionaires in the U.S. alone. Reno and Las Vegas don't satisfy thier gambling desires.
THE CONSUMERS ARE THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THE PRICE.
Excessive speculation hurt the economy in 2008 and, once again, is harming the economy in 2011. According to data recently released by the Commission, speculators have raised their positions in energy markets by
64 percent compared to June 2008, bringing speculation to the highest level on record.
We need meaningful, effective speculative position limits to restore balance to commodities markets and ensure that they are connected to market fundamentals, so that they fulfill their price-discovery function properly and without distortions caused by excessive speculation. In particular, I:
• support the Commission's immediate adoption of spot-month speculative position limits; • urge the Commission to adopt effective back-month levels that will accomplish the legislative purpose of curbing excessive speculation; • urge the Commission to adopt single-month limits that are no higher than two-thirds of the all-months-combined levels; • urge the Commission immediately to adopt a position-accountability regime for the nonspot months in place of its proposed position-visibility rule; and • urge the Commission to adopt lower speculative position limits for passive, long-only traders.
Time is of the essence, and I urge you to act quickly. Our pocketbooks and the broader economy depend on it.
Sincerely,
Joseph P Egan
206 241-7278
