Corporate Greed
Oil prices to be probed by US regulator CFTC
By James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent
Note From Robert R. Barney: Notce that within 12 hours of this announcement the price of oil plummted and gas came down overnight. Does it really take a rocket scientist to figure out what is happening?
America's leading commodities regulator has launched an unprecedented investigation into possible market manipulation in the US crude oil market amid record prices which continue to cripple various parts of the global economy.
 | |
| Oil prices hit a record high of $135.14 a barrel last week |
The Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC), working closely with other international regulators including the Financial Services Authority in the UK, has begun a series of detailed inquiries over concerns that energy speculators are behind the rising oil price.
In a detailed statement, the CFTC admitted for the first time that it began its investigation in December, taking what it called the "extraordinary step" of disclosing the probe "because of today's unprecedented market conditions". MORE
