Policy Briefing Room

Issue Briefs

• Restoring Fair and Open Energy Markets Learn More>>
  

Answers to Common Questions 

• Your speculation and market questions are answered here. Learn More>>

Legislation

• We support the “Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009” (H.R. 977).
  This legislation would make several very positive changes to commodities oversight laws, including requiring the clearing of all standardized futures contracts including those traded over-the-counter, greatly strengthening traders’ and exchanges’ record keeping and reporting requirements, and closing many of the loopholes that undermine the price discovery functions of the futures markets. We believe that, with the addition of a provision in this bill that would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to impose aggregate speculative position limits on traders across all markets, this legislation is exactly what is needed to address the glaring shortcomings in our nation’s commodity futures regulation framework.

Charts

• Bullish Oil Reports Often Follow Valleys, Precede Spikes
• Crude Oil Contract Volume Soared in 2003-2008 Period
• Investors Returning to Oil Futures in Last Several Weeks
• Relative to Demand, Global Petroleum Stocks Have Grown
• World Demand for Oil in 2009 to Fall Most Since 1981
• In 2008, Investors Added to Volatility of Crude Oil Markets