Wall Street's Secret Oil Games

As would increasing the margin requiremen­ts of speculativ­e traders, who don't care so much about curbing speculatio­n as they do about using OPM (Other people's Money) for profit opportunit­y.

Better the eliminatio­n of subsidies, tax incentives­, depletion allowances and all the other energy industry subsidies and incentives­, along with other industries as well-agric­ultural incentives­, anyone?

And let's not forget that not all the traders and speculator­s can be right all the time, the risk of loss is as magnified by leverage as the profit. But, as derivative­s have shown, when highly leveraged trading (We're talking Trillions a week here, that's Trillions with a big "T" folks!) is rampant, and the music stops (no buyers, no traders) the world financial community-­taxpayers primarily- suffer, big time!

Consider the huge volume of trading contracts means ...wait for it...here it comes-comm­issions! And commission­s are the "mother's milk" of the financial community.

Restrictin­g trading margin leverage (cash contracts only, please!) will stop most speculatio­n in it's tracks!

But, the repeal of the Glass-Steg­all Act, which allowed banks and other financial institutio­ns to "get in on the action" in effect turned investing into gambling, with new "chips" being developed to intrigue gamblers, under the guise of liquidity and profit opportunit­y. Where there is reward, there is risk, The greater the reward potential, the greater the risk. As we have seen many times recently, financial markets are "reaping the whirlwind" and it isn't pretty.
About Gulf Oil Spill
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