With crude oil prices hovering near $140 a barrel and gasoline selling for $4 a gallon, there’s growing pressure from American consumers and businesses on lawmakers to end what is seen as excessive speculation in the commodities markets.
Regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have been scrambling to react. On Tuesday, the CFTC announced an agreement with London-based electronic exchange ICE Futures Europe to extend limits on oil contracts traded in the U.K., as The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. And as Reuters reports, lawmakers would like to limit the volume of commodities trading taking place in so-called dark pools, beyond the reach of U.S. regulators.
