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4/22/11 7:Contrarian View On Commodity "Speculation" | zero hedge

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Posted by: williambanzai7

Post date: 04/22/2011 - 12:25

He who wants Lent to seem short

should contract a debt to be

repaid at Easter. Italian Proverb

Caisse's 2010 AnnualReport

Posted by: Leo Kolivakis

Post date: 04/22/2011 -

08:22

Is Canada's largest pension

fund manager building a

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You bet it is...

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Posted by: asiablues

Post date: 04/22/2011 - 00:11

McDonald's coffee customers are

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Home

A Contrarian View

On Commodity

"Speculation"

Submitted by Tyler

Durden on04/21/2011 21:33 -

0400

Ben Bernanke Crude

Eastern Europe

Greece North Korea

Saudi Arabia The

Matrix

In response to the

president's moronicwitch

hunt of oil "traders" which,

for a POTUS so set on

distinguishing himself from

the prior administration,was only missing the

phrasing "read my lips, no

more speculators" for

people to suffer the biggest

glitch in the matrix to date,

we decided to present this

note from Jared Dillian,

editor of the Daily Dirtnap

published back in January

discussing the imminent

surge in food prices, which

however is just as

applicable to the surge in

any commodity, and most

certainly crude. Dillian's

point is so simple we are

not at all surprised that it

is lost on all sock puppets

in Washington. "I say that

speculators have a very

important role to play in

setting commodity prices,

and the very idea that we

would limit the role that

speculators play in

commodity prices is an

early signal that world food

markets are about to get a

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2/83



,

which means we are about

to undo all the progress we

have made in the last fifty

years. This is why

speculators are important

in setting prices. They

make money. That is their

job. Making money is an

end in itself. But an

interesting by-product of

a speculator setting

prices is that he forcesthe producers of the

commodities to respond,

and consequently, adjust

production." To be sure,

there are always those

speculators who in their

pursuit of price

disequilibria, through the

wager of capital, will break

the law, just as there are

those who will commit

criminal acts in every

aspect of life. But for the

most part, speculators

operate within the confines

of the law, as poorlydrafted as it may be. Yet

the core point remains: by

pushing the clearing price

substantially from the

equilibrium due to excess

demand (or supply) specs

merely precipitate an equal

and opposite reaction

which promptly corrects

this disequilibrium. As

Dillian concludes when

observing a hypothetical

explosion in food prices:

"Well, guess what: when

prices are ten times

higher, the market is

going to be full of

farmers, and nobody is

going to complain very

much about that." Q.E.D.

Blaming speculators for

price surges is beyond

short sighted, especially

when the proximal cause is

infinite supplies of Fed

produced liquidity which is

merely looking for the path

of least resistance to the

highest possible returns.

Yet it does bring up a point

- while in most

commodities price surges

are short lived, when it

comes to crude there is

almost never any price

elasticity to the downside.

Meaing that suppliers, of

whom the marginal block

is a production cartel are

either unwilling to, far

more likely, unable to

provide excess supply.

Which is in line with what

we have seen out of Saudi

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3/83



Arabia recently: instead of

increasing production in

March in the aftermath of

Libya, Saudi came up with

the most ridiculous excuse

for demand destruction

one could conceive, and

lowered output. It is this

act, in addition naturally to

the excess liquidity

provided by Bernanke that

should be pursued by theDynamic Duo of Obama-

Holder. But to do so who

distrurb the far more

sensitive equilibria of the

petrodollar bond producer

on one hand, and, of

course, the Wall Street

capital base on the other.

Which is why it is always

easiest to blame the

nameless, faceless

"speculator" scapegoat.

After all it worked so well

for Greece which said it

was all CDS traders' fault...

At least of course until

Greece went banrkrupt forthe first time... and then

for the second time.

From Jared Dillian's Daily

Dirtnap "Food Fight",

January 2011:

Jared Dillian

You do not want to mess

with food.

You know, we are not so

far away from a time where

we did not take food for

granted. We are not so far

away from a time in history

when people really wenthungry. Nobody goes

hungry now, and I am not

being exceedingly glib. We

have an obesity problem,

not a hunger problem. We

have solved the problem of

growing and delivering

enough calories to

everyone in the country at

incredibly low prices. We

have tamed agriculture,

something our ancestors

had been trying to do for

millennia, and we can now

feed everyone easily, with

room to spare. To theextent that someone goes

hungry in a developed

country, it has to do with

something else, not the

production and delivery of

food.

We have arrived.

Does everyone realize how

incredible this is? Yes,

there is still hunger in the

world. But it is better. And
http://www.dailydirtnap.com/


4/83



it seems like the really,

really bad famines on the

planet these days are man-

made (North Korea).

Overpopulation? People

were worried about being

able to feed the planet

when we were 4 billion

people. Now were at 7

billion. To the extent that

agriculture and markets are

free and freely traded,there is literally no limit to

what we can do.

But we go through periods

of time in history when

things get ugly (remember

Kondratieff, he was all

about agriculture), and the

price of food can get very,

very hairy. I am all about

the prices of things getting

hairy, I have said that it is

going to happen to apparel

(another commodity that

comes out of the ground),

but there is a tendency for

the prices of things thathad previously been

dormant for decades to

suddenly come alive. Do we

care why this happens? Do

we need to know? Or can

we profit off it without

knowing?

We can profit off it without

knowing. But I will tell you

why this happens, and it

gets back to Kondratieff,

K-waves happen over time

because of long-term

cycles in social psychology,

and over periods of time,

people will develop somevery illiberal ideas about

how food should be

produced, managed,

bought, sold, and

distributed, ideas that, in

the best case scenario,

cause prices to rise, and in

the worst case, severe

shortages and even

famines.

There is ideology in this, I

admit. I remember sitting

back in seventh grade

social studies class and us

having this in-depth

discussion about how

senseless it was to have a

planned economy, who is

omniscient enough to

decide who gets what and

how much to pay for it?

Senseless. And this was the

mid-eighties, and we knew

back then that the Soviet

Union and Eastern Europe

was having a tough time,

or at least we had a hunch,


5/83



and we knew that our

system provided more for

more people than theirs

did. That was twenty-five

years ago.

But time will go by and

people will start to

question the very ideas

which they held to be

absolute truths, they see

food prices starting to rise,

and they say, hey, this isnta game, people shouldnt

be making money off of

food, food is a necessity,

people need food, and we

shouldnt let this vast

unregulated casino going

around deciding how much

people who are already

strapped for cash are going

to be paying for bread.

And it is always true in

capitalism that any time

you are talking about

things that people need

(like food and health care),

those have the potential tobe the least free, and the

things that people really

dont need at all (like

iPods), those are the goods

with the really free

markets. Right?

This is the age-old

question in political

economy (what exactly is

political economy?), which

is: should markets be

trusted with something as

precious and as sensitive as

food? To which I ask,

rhetorically: should

government be trusted withsomething as precious and

as sensitive as food? But we

are getting ahead of

ourselves.

The problem that we will

be faced with imminently is

the idea that speculators

are making money being

long certain commodities,

the prices of which have

doubled or so, and people

are starting to get pissed.

Why should somebody be

turning into Richie Rich

when I have to pay twice as

much for a cup of coffee?

Et cetera. And listen:

people I respect a great

deal disagree with me on

this, and reasonable people

can disagree on this issue,

but I say that speculators

have a very important role

to play in setting

commodity prices, and the

very idea that we would

limit the role that


6/83



speculators play in

commodity prices is an

early signal that world food

markets are about to get a

good deal more unfree,

which means we are about

to undo all the progress we

have made in the last fifty

years.

This is why speculators

are important in setting

prices. They make money.That is their job. Making

money is an end in itself.

But an interesting by-

product of a speculator

setting prices is that he

forces the producers of

the commodities to

respond, and

consequently, adjust

production. Let me

explain.

So lets say that a

speculator thinks the price

of grain is going to go up

this year, and the reason

he thinks that is because

he is some expert on

weather, he can forecast

the weather better than

anyone else, and this is a

very lucrative skill to have.

So prices right now are low,

and by buying grain

forward, he is causing

prices to go up. Other

speculators with their

weather geeks are also

buying grain forward in

advance of nasty weather,

and in doing so, they are

all driving the price up.

In response, the farmers

are going to plant and

grow a lot more grain,

because the price is

higher! They are

responding to price,

which is a market signal.

The higher the price, the

bigger their eyes get, and

the more they plant. And

by planting more grain,

they will be able to avert

the weather crisis that is

coming and will be able

to feed everyone in the

world at a reasonable

price.

Its so easy a caveman

can do it.

But the idea that a

speculator would make

money off of someone

elses misfortune is a

pretty repugnant idea for

people, especially when

they look around and see

that the market is full of


7/83



speculators. Well, guess

what: when prices are ten

times higher, the market

is going to be full of

farmers, and nobody is

going to complain very

much about that.

But in not allowing

speculators to profit from

near-term price increases,

we are setting ourselves up

for big- time failure,because prices are not

being allowed to rise to the

levels that would induce

people to quit their jobs as

newsletter writers and

strike out to get rich as

farmers. Oh, prices will get

there eventually, but by

limiting the role that

speculators play, they will

get there at the worst

possible time, when people

are not ready for it, and

there is not going to be

enough food to go around.

Most if not all of the

preceding applies to oil as

well.

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by zen0

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:38

#1194968Hog cycle?


comments

by spiral_eyes

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:08

#1195033lean hogs, bitchez

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post comments

by bonddude

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:27

#1195077"Mr. Valentine has set

the price." - from

Trading Places- 1983


post comments
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8/83



by

SparkyvonBellagio

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

23:43

#1195222

Though I love the

movie, and even if

you're 18 and

trading you should

know every line

from trading

places. No need to

give up the quotes

origin. We know.

Bacon, like you'd

have in a bacon,

lettuce, and

tomato sandwich.

Whiskey, all you

want!

Cheers

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by

SilverRhino

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

00:10

#1195262

You know?

This kind of

shit happens

to me EVERY

WEEK!!

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post comments

by

Sudden

Debt

on Fri,

04/22/2011

- 05:00

#1195529

open

whiskey

bar?

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to post

comments

by

SheepDog-

One

on Fri,

04/22/2011

-

08:43

#1195686

Yes

Mr

Valentine

has

set

the

price.

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or

register

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9/83



comments

by

bonddude

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

07:37

#1195613

Yeah thanks.

Spelling

corrections in

...3...2...1...

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by

spelledwrong

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

08:23

#1195666

Cause I'm a

karate man!

And a karate

man bruises

on the inside!

They don't

show their

weakness. But

you don't

know thatbecause you're

a big Barry

White looking

motherfucker!

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by

SheepDog-

One

on Fri,

04/22/2011

- 08:44#1195688

Drop a

quart

technique,

hit ya anda quart of

blood just

drop outta

you.

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to post

comments

by

BrobamaReds

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

07:39#1195604

I personally know

traders at Sempra

Energy in CT thatmade (and

continue to

make) a killing on

the california

blackouts

while Enron was

the only firm

looked at. These

sempra guys have

it made: they are

not a bank, no one

from the
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10/83



mainstream knows

who they are and

they practically run

the speculation

game for all

commodities and

cry if they don't

earn $25MM in a

year. One friend

of mine has made

$20MM+ per year

for 10 years+makes Derek Jeter

look like a

joke...will make

even more now

that he runs an

area and he can

still fly commercial

because no one

know who the fuck

he is! He was

long when oil ran

to $147, made a

killing on corn and

copper, blah blah

blah. This guy still

lives in a small

greenwich condo

and drives an

older A6....for 10

years.....totally

under the radar,

just killin it,

100MM+

liquid...farmers?

he could give two

shits, lol.....good

luck america.

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to post comments

by

Ray1968

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

08:38

#1195674

Dammit. Your

friend is living

MY dream.

M-Fer. I'm

jealous. I bet

the SOB has

gold bars

stashed under

his apartment

floorboards as

well.

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by

tgatliff

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

08:44

#1195690

Yes I agree

this is a

problem... But

you dont solve

it by limiting

activities of

traders. You
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11/83



do it by raising

the cost of

money. (aka

Raise Interest

Rates ASAHP)

Yes, this will

make all of the

banks

collapse, and

yes this is a

good thing

because it isinevitable.

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post comments

by

glenlloyd

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

12:32

#1196460

half of what

you've written

is unreadable.

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by Twindrives

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

08:17

#1195657Kenyan national Barry

Soetoro has his head in

a dark spot, as usual.


post comments

by SheepDog-

One

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 08:45

#1195693

'When prices are 10X

higher, it wont be a

problem because

everyone will be

farmers'?

Wow pie in the sky

economics...first of all

does everyone already

own 50 acres to farm?

And can the avg

american even keep a

fern alive, much less

grow a corn or wheat

crop? I suppose when

beef shoots up to $40

a pound, suddenly

everyone will just

become a cattle

rancher as well? Silly

economics.


post comments

by Misean

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:41

#1194975You mean prices transmit

information to the rest of
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12/83



humanity imparting an

incentive to engage in

activities most highly

prized by their fellows?!? !

Wow!

The next thing someone

will say is that this is why

centrally planned

ebubblemies CAN'T work...


comments

by Doa K

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:34

#1195095Maybe, Obummer

should take the 5

minute university.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=kO8x8eoU3L4

Old but basic. Min.

1.47 on economics


post comments

by Ricky

Bobby

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 06:01

#1195550+LMAO

Long Marxism, short

classical liberalism.


post comments

by Al

Gorerhythm

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 06:26

#1195573

Does Obaminable write

his own speeches? If

so he has a mop for a

brain. It's like the

whole political class

has been dumbed

down, and he's the

President!


post comments

by buzzsaw99

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:47

#1194987Another apologist piece.

:sigh:

Speculators use free

leveraged money to drive

up prices. Then, just about

the time the farmer goes to

sell the price drops.

Everyone loses except the

damn speculators, they get

bailed out. The days of

trading places where the

little guy wipes out the big
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13/83



guy once in awhile are

over. Everything is rigged

and dollar debauchery

always goes to the maggots

first.


comments

by

KinorSensase

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 22:10

#1195043agreed. speculators

are parasites that

contribute nothing to

economic production

beyond the illusion of

their own grandeur and

self-importance. the

day speculators trade

places with farmers,

put their hands in the

dirt, and actually

produce

something....then I'll

believe in their good

intentions. otherwise

this is complete, ahem,hogwash.


post comments

by Ricky

Bobby

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

06:02

#1195552

You just made the

authors point.

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by

CrashisOptimistic

on Thu, 04/21/2011

- 22:16

#1195051

Maybe speculators are

holding the price down

and oil scarcity should

truly be priced much

higher.


post comments

by Yancey

Ward

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:20

#1195059

Indeed. People

always forget there

are two sides to

this trade.

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by

DonnieD

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

07:43

Maybe there

shouldn't be

either side of
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14/83



#1195617

the trade for

those who are

only involved

for gambling

purposes.

Maybe bankers

need to go

back to what

they started

out as instead

of inventing an

endless arrayof bullshit

securities to

gamble on.

A firm pushing

prices up or

down just

because their

bank roll and

influence is

bigger than

everyone else's

doesn't seem

to accomplish

anything for

society and I

somehowdoubt that was

the original

intention of a

futures

contract of

corn for a

farmer in

Illinois.

We laugh at

algo's pushing

the price of

Netflix into the

stratosphere

but if you

needed that

stock to feedyour family or

put gas in your

car we might

view it

differently.

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post comments

by

Paul E.

Math

on Fri,

04/22/2011

- 08:02

#1195640

You haveidentified

the real

problem.

There is

nothing

wrong

with

speculators

and

speculation

per se.
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15/83



The

problem is

when

speculators

are able to

deliberately

push

prices in

one

direction

or the

other.

This is

wrong in

the same

way that it

is wrong

when

government

pushes

prices in

one

direction

or the

other. It

leads to

resource

misallocationand either

we starve

for lack of

food or

farmers

starve for

lack of

income.

So how

about we

go about

addressing

the

problem of

price

manipulationrather

than just

blaming

speculation

itself?

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comments

by

Thomas

on Fri,

04/22/2011

-

08:34

#1195672

The

proximate

cause

is

unteathered

access

to

capital

at no

cost. If

these

guys
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16/83



had to

borrow

my

money

I sure

as hell

would

exact

a little

more

interest

out of

them.

They

do

not,

however,

need

to

compensate

the

savers

when

there

is a

central

bank

to

preempt

the

free

market.

The

rampant

speculation

is a

symptom,

not a

cause.

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or

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to post

comments

by

DaddyO

on

Fri,

04/22/2011

-

09:30

#1195782

+1

DaddyO

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post

comments

by

buzzsaw99

on

Fri,

04/22/2011

-

11:18

#1196184

excellent

point.

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17/83



by

nevadan

on

Fri,

04/22/2011

-

11:45

#1196297

Exactly

right

and

the

root

of

the

problem.

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or

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comments

by

tmosley

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

23:37

#1195212

lol, it's funny that

you think the

world is conspiring

against you. Mostpeople don't want

to hold things

short. There

might be a few

large institutions

that are short, but

such institutions

aren't large enough

to suppress the

gargantuan oil

market.

You want peak oil

so BAD, don't you?

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to post comments

by

AnAnonymous

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 02:47

#1195458

Free leveraged money

is catalysis, nothing

more. It helps but is

not the root.

The author forgot what

abundance or mass

production is. Curious

for a US citizen as

Another

apologist

piece.

:sigh:

Speculators

use free

leveraged

money to

drive up

prices.
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18/83



abundance was key in

their so called

exceptional project.

There is no

equilibrium, only the

pursue of imbalance.

The author once again

touts the possibility of

infinite

collection/extraction

and all. It is so stupid.

Mass production is

dying and the world is

reaching an age of

levelled production.

US citizens are really

confused by their own

history, built on theft

that has mechanically

increased the input to

their economy,

favouring more activity.

Okay, 90 pc more

farmers and so what?

Where are the lands tofarm? 90pc more

farmers would drive

the costs of labour

down but would not

solve the scarcity of

land. As arable lands

are located in countries

like the US whose

general environment is

extremelly expensive

due to decades of

wealth accumulation,

farmers would not be

able to make the living

required to support

themselves in this kind

of environment. It is

already what is

happening as crops are

subsidized to match

the imbalance between

the general

environment and the

valuation of the

activity.

The article is so stupid.

US citizens have better

to understand that

globalization is nearing

its end, that

expansionism will

never be the same as

the good old glorious

nineteen century.

Lacking land? Just take

from the Indians. More

land, more farmers,

more food. This

scheme is ending.

Only one thing is

known to be able to

cope with speculation:


19/83



mass production. It is

not surprised that oil

can be manipulated by

speculators as oil

extraction has reached

a plateau. The supply

side can barely grow,

that is the lever of

speculators who are

once again able to

capture a meaningful

enough share to drive

up prices.

High prices of oil,

more oil extractors,

prices down. Who

could believe that

drivel? Doesnt make

sense as the oil

extraction is all

absorbed by the

consumption actors.

You can barely extract

more oil. So where is

the growth in supply

needed to compensate

the speculators?

It has never been about

equilibrium but

imbalance. Chasing

and creating imbalance

to extract as much

wealth as it is possible.

A gradient story.


post comments

by Hexus

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

08:34

#1195671+1

But what should we

expect from a site run

by the very same

egomaniacal

parasites ZH pretends

to critisize. Or maybe

we are just blind to the

subtlety of the great

markets, really it's a

good thing when food

prices double and

children starve, it's the

markets way of telling

us those children were

inferior specimins of

humanity.


post comments

by

chunkylover42

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 11:00

#1196114yes, by all means let's

ban speculators and

speculation, which is

what you are implying


20/83



with your comment.

That way, legitimate

hedgers like an airline

can just hedge with....

other hedgers? That

should work out great,

don't you think?


post comments

by

buzzsaw99

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

11:25

#1196207

I don't have a

problem with those

who hedge and

intend to take

delivery. The

average WTI

contract trades like

five hundred times

before it is finally

taken by the

(much) poor(er)

end user.

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to post comments

by gordengeko

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:53

#1194996"Which is why it is always

easiest to blame the

nameless, faceless

"speculator" scapegoat."

Are we seriously going to

let them continue this

fucking bullshit??? Did

they not say the same god

damn thing with terrorists

to get the patriot act in

place and start molesting 6

year olds for chirst sake?! I

hope to God people start

putting two and two

together, they are trying to

take complete control and

it's more than obvious.

Call me a conspiracy

theroist whatever the fuck

that means, I don't care.

We let them continue and

there will be no where else

to go and the end game is

the reduction of the

population. Use your brain,

think, this is all

propaganda bullshit tokeep you locked in the

game. In your mind! Has

nothing to do with anything

that is outside yourself.

Whenever they come out

and start making public

threats against phantom

fake boogiemen to start

making new rules taking

more "freedoms" away we

need to step up the

alternative news calling


21/83



them out with logic,

reasoning and information

to get the power players to

start making some moves.

Cause at the end of the

day you can have all the

money in the world but if

the world is gone up in

flames what are you left

with and most importantly,

what are you going to take

with you when you leave

this earth? You can say

you actually tried to doing

something good with your

life or you spent your

whole life trying to make a

ton of worthless fiat shit

paper!


comments

by Sock

Puppet

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 23:17

#1195182Gorden, how is your

credit rating doing?Login or register to

post comments

by bobert

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

00:17

#1195295lol, thanks!

Login or register

to post comments

by

gordengeko

on Fri,04/22/2011 -

06:24

#1195571

You say it like it

matters. Words

still get read.lol

Login or register

to post comments

by

Pondmaster

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 03:34

#1195480"Are we seriously going

to let them continue

this f...ing bullshit???"

Until the demise of

"American Idol","

Dancing with the Stars"and the NFL and beer ,

the answer is

YES!!!!!!!!!!! . Dumbed

down America will do

NOTHING . Absolutely

nothing . Thank God

there are still those

who think for

themselves, and

haven't eaten the

porpaganda. We need a

new 60's generation.


22/83



F... the establishment.

But, alas , if groups

organize they will be

zapped in public

gatherings by Gov't

produced Raytheon

crowd control

microwave weapons .

Can you alone stand

against the corruption?


post comments

by

gordengeko

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

06:07

#1195558

Not talking about

getting some

crayons and some

cardboard to do

some yelling. The

masses will be

reduced, nothing

to do about that

was thinking more

along the lines ofgetting people with

a lot of money to

take delivery of the

silver and crash

the party early.

Protesting is for

sheep unless the

majority of the

herd gathers which

is doubtful.

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to post comments

by ibjamming

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

07:30

#1195607They control the

media...they'll make

you look like a

fool...you'll be

marginalized...that's

how they win.


post comments

by

gordengeko

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -07:42

#1195615

Look, I'm not

advocatingviolence nor am I

talking about

anarchy. The

fundamentals need

to be changed in

order to change

the system. You

can add new rules

and regulations

but when there is

demoralization on

a mass level what
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23/83



good are more

rules and less

freedoms? Surely

there has to be

some affluent

people left that

can start to

organize politcally?

If I'm mistaken,

then I'm just

talking bullshit

with no meaning.

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to post comments

by Tunga

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:56

#1195002"disequilibria" Now that is

just plain fun to say. It will

probably be banned in

China by tomorrow. Or

yesterday. Whatever it is

there right now.


comments

by Misean

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:00

#1195014Disequilibria is what

counterfeiters create.

Dunno if it could be

used in a rallying cry

though...


post comments

by Doa K

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -22:57

#1195148I think antibiotics

may work on

these gut bacteria.

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to post comments

by A

Nanny

Moose

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

00:16

#1195284

My thirst has

resulted in

disequilibria in my

beer glass.

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by narnia

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:59

#1195005Seems like there's a perfect

storm in agriculture.

Countries like China

dramatically increasing

their inventories, the flood

of easy money chasing
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24/83



anything real, the low

interest incentive to

speculate, the sinking of

the $, the craze behind

biofuels, some crop failures

due to extreme

temperatures, increasing

populations, aging farmers,

decreases in yields for

industrially produced food,

agriculture being so petrol

dependent, and the organic

food demand. All of these

factors are pushing prices

up, despite the fact that we

spend BILLIONS of $

subsidizing them.

He's taking the explanation

that suits his political

agenda, no matter how

little of the whole story it

tells. They are beating the

"top 1%" drum quite a bit.

The more you hear them

beating the "corporate

greed", "increased

regulation" & "invest in our

communities", which workswell with the top 1%, the

closer to the end we are.

They are framing a

socialist solution. This

whole mess needs to be

pinned on central planning,

and I sure as hell hope the

American people see that.

For this reason, he needs

to be taken to the cleaners

on this, and I applaud you

are doing your part Tyler.


comments

by Doa K

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

23:07

#1195170Food is the most basic

commodity that

everyone understands,

especially those who

have experienced pain

from hunger. It is also

the first element on the

pyramid of needs along

with shelter.

It is therefore,

understandable that

securing food for the

future and becomingself sufficient is a

priority.

Farmers are also

hedging due to

weather

unpredictability and

lately fiat money.

So Mr. Obummer:

Where is wrong with

doing, what I have just

described? You are just
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25/83



a demagogue and you

do not care about

anything else but

getting reelected by

lying and cheating.


post comments

by bobert

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

23:52

#1195242I like it when you

speak your mind

without first

checking with the

"hubby."

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to post comments

by IdioTsincracYon Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:02

#1195008The point that you are

missing is that society is

governed by rules. These

rules are set based on the

needs of the society...

Finance laws do not fall

under the 'natural' laws of

the universe, they can be

changed if and when

needed.

It used to be that 'Finance'

(hence the word) was

supposed to finance humanactivities and reward the

best effort and ideas.

Then it all went wrong ...

forget research and ideas,

just play trends, and now

algos are in charge...

the system has become the

opposite of what Finance is

supposed to be.

Making money is an end in

itself,... fine! .... however as

a democratic society we

have a responsibility to

take actions (in a

democratic way) when

things get out of hand.

The market has gone from

a system to reward

competition and the best

ideas, to a big Monopoly

board game on global scale

and the major tool of

wealth extraction.... and

now is run by computers ...

sorry but we need to

regulate it!


26/83



Of course, it will not

happen until it will self-

destruct


comments

by Misean

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:04

#1195024" to a big Monopoly

board game..."

You get so close, and

then fall back on

"regulation". It is the

monopoly money

created by regulation

that is causing the

problem.


post comments

by

IdioTsincracY

on Thu,04/21/2011 -

22:05

#1195032

I actually agreewith you .. current

regulations (or lack

thereof) have been

put in place by the

oligarchy for its

own benefit, and

we see the results.

We need to change

the current rules ...

stop the leeches ...

say it any way you

want ... but let's

hope it happens

soon

Login or registerto post comments

by

StarvingLion

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

23:33

#1195209

The immune

system in your

body detects

pathogens,

and then

targets and

kills them. Get

it?

Login or

register topost comments

by griff

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:20

#1195055It's not regulation,

its the pretense of

regulation and the

false sense of

security that it

provides that


27/83



causes problems.

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to post comments

by

gordengeko

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 22:19

#1195049@idio, "Finance laws do

not fall under the

'natural' laws of the

universe, they can bechanged if and when

needed."

You're exactly right. I

100% agree with you.

Having said that,

thank you for proving

MY point. Not sure

what country you live

in but when my

country was founded,

there were actually

"rules" set forth

making each person a

soverign. "Natural

laws" of the universe if

you will, our country

has since been

subverted by these

foreign bankers who

implanted YOUR

finance laws thrusting

this population into

debt slavery. You

throw out terms like

democratic society and

goverened like they

actually have a

meaning in todays

world. If you believe

that you are surely

mistaken my friend.


post comments

by

thedrickster

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 22:37

#1195105You are a looter at

heart, go away.


post comments

by Central

Bankster

on Fri,

04/22/2011 - 01:35#1195397"

The point that you are

missing is that society

is governed by rules.

These rules are set

based on the needs of

the society..."

The whole point of

economics is to

understand the natural
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28/83



order of human

interaction with respect

to scarce resources.

These are naturally

occuring markets--

free market economics

is superior to central

planning and crony

capitalism because it

does not attempt to

artificially impose

"standards" or "needs"of a third party. Do

they teach anything

useful in school

anymore?


post comments

by i-dog

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

03:44

#1195483

The point that youare

missing is that society

is governed by natural

law (in a nutshell: don't

lie; don't cheat; don'tsteal; don't hit). All the

rest of the "rules" of

which you speak are

not necessary for a

society to function, but

merely to improve

control overthe society

by the rule-making

class (to their own

advantage first; to the

general well-being of

lesser mortals as a

[possible] after effect).

Fucking socialists are

always trying to control

somebody other than

themselves!


post comments

by

MolotovCockhead

on Fri, 04/22/2011 -

03:45

#1195485

"If you control the oil

you control the

country; if you control

"The point

that you

are

missing isthat

society is

governed

by rules.

These rules

are set

based on

the needs

of the

society..."


29/83



food, you control the

population.If you

control the money

you control the

world":- Henry

Kissinger

Still can't see that

they(NWO) are

preparing you for their

Utopia? Have you not

notice the "chaos" all

around? Actually thoseare more likely control

demolition.......think

Building7 at ground

zero!

Say bye bye to your US

Dollar, it's a matter of

time they usher in the

NW currency and

remember to exchange

your FRN for real

money/PM. Whatever

that are printed on a

piece of paper will be

worth the piece paper

it was printed on.


post comments

by Bob

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:01

#1195009

Certainly not the million

who starved due to the

high prices before the next

crop was planted by all

those new farmers.

Sure, where would free

markets be without

speculators pouring

liquidity in. The argument

reminds me of an old story

I heard:

http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/prime/articles/zeno_tort/index.asp


comments

by

topcallingtroll

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 22:43

#1195109Dd

(double douchery)


When prices

are ten times

higher, the

market is going

to be full of

farmers . . .

and nobody is

going to

complain very

much about

that?
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30/83



post comments

by

topcallingtroll

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 22:39

#1195112Dammit

The lamp is on right?

A summable series

must go to completion

right?

The troll is a stat

genius but abstract

math retard.

Guys this is fun!

Someone show me the

proof!


post comments

by Doa K

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

23:25

#1195194A street smart

Greek asked Zenothat if an arrow

was thrown,

whould the same

principle apply? (It

will never reach the

target as every

time the arrow will

have half the

distance and so

on.) Zeno said yes.

Then the street

smart Greek put an

arrow in his bow

and ask Zeno to

stand 1/8 of a

stadium away (25meters) Zeno

conceded.

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to post comments

by

Bob

on Fri,

04/22/2011 -

08:33

#1195622

That night,

Zeno went

home and got

shit faced

drunk. He

knew

somethingwasn't right

about this.

What to do,

what to do.

Somehow this

had to be

tested.

Eureka!

He took the

bet on very

good terms.
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31/83



He sold what

he callled

"shares" to

1000 people,

each of whom

would take

successive

positions

halfway

between the

arrow and the

target. Bidsbecame

understandably

lower each

step of the

way, leaving all

to wonder how

he was gonna

make this

thing work . . .

nobody

wanted that

finalshare, not

at any price.

Whereupon

Zeno pulled

the rabbit ofgenius out of

his hat. When

all the

shareholders

were

assembled he

called his

trusted slave

Xternality to

assume the

final position

in the series

for him by

what he called

"proxy,"

explaining to

him that

everybodywas

depending

upon him to

get this thing

over with and

that everybody

had to do their

part. He

himself had to

make sure the

arrow was shot

correctly and

he sure as hell

couldn't be in

two places at

once! Theslave was

naturally

anxious, but

how could he

let all these

people down?

By now the

entire city had

come to a

standstill. Did

he not believe

in his beloved


32/83



Master? So

Xternality took

his position

and the arrow

was launched.

Zeno made out

like a bandit.

Likewise for all

the "investors"

in the

secondary

markets. Not

only was great

wealth created,

but order was

restored.

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register to

post comments

by max2205

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

21:58

#1195016Traders set prices?! JPM GS

ect.... Thanks for the

thought.

One word Twinkies, they

are cake on the outside

and cream in the middle.

They never go bad


comments

by Davilis

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:00

#1195020Blah blah blah. Yes,

speculators are ramping up

prices. QE1 completed and

agricultural commodity

prices were still at lowlevels. QE2 was

ANNOUNCED and prices

started to ramp. Pretty

obvious. Nobody should

be fooled, but they are.


comments

by

IdioTsincracY

on Thu,

04/21/2011 - 22:08

#1195037I consider speculation

also the printing of

money by the Fed to

benefit the Banks thatin turn buy T-Bonds ...

that is not financing

ideas, or rewarding

effort, or promoting

competition ... that

also is making money

in itself by perverting

the system.

We're in this together ..


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33/83



by Bear

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:02

#1195023Obama and Holder are

absolute idiots ... I'm a

speculator and I have lost

my ass in Crude. Do they

not realize that for every

long there is a short.

Obviously their Blue RibbonCommission has nothing to

do with manipulation of the

markets ... only

manipulation of their serfs.


comments

by bonddude

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:32

#1195094Lloyd and the other

rats will never see a

prosecution just more

bailouts.

By the time a small

segment of the US

public realizes this

silver will be

$200...about 1 year or

so?


post comments

by I am Jobe

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:05

#1195025Speculators Bitchez

Inflation Bitchez

Listen to the President

Bitchez. All is fine. LOL,

take cover and hide or

leave the USA fast .


comments

by Silver Bug

on Thu,

04/21/2011 -

22:02

#1195026Farming is definitely going

to be a profitable job in the

near future. Jim Rogers

ta

a contrarian view on commodity

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