Oil manipulation and CFTC.....I've worked under the license and compliance of the CFTC for twenty something years. They are the worst, if that is possible. Mostly they don't have a clue about trading and what constitutes good or bad trades. They don't get commissions. They don't get crooked brokers, especially in options. The options market is almost totally illiquid, orders don't get filled until near the close. Having said all this, WTF is with the current bust? Zero. Nobody who isn't really in the markets can appreciate the total world wide volume which is in the billions of dollars (and barrels)....on any single second during the day (or night). The way trading actually works, even for the most reckless of traders, is to be "flat" at the end of the day; that is either out of the market or balanced so that an overnight explosive move can't hurt them. This means that end of day volume is always higher than at any time during the day (possible exception is opening). The alleged manipulation is for a tiny amount of volume concentrated at the end of the trading day, and would have at most a penny or two affect on the price but when several millions of barrels are involved in a trade even a penny is a monster profit. The commodities bill sponsored by Harry Reid is a disaster waiting to happen. If it passes we may see market meltdowns. Keep in mind that the rest of the world does not play by OUR rules and the entire futures business in all commodities could move to Europe and Asia in a single evening.

The SEC is even worse and the current volitility in the stock market is directly attibutable to those clowns repealing he "uptick" rule on a short sale. Without it "bear raids" on companies are now routine while those assholes sit idly by. It is a regulatory disgrace as you will see when the state of New York, and not the SEC, exposes the fraud involved in the "packaging" of high risk mortgages labeled as "safe" or marked to market when they clearly were not. The biggest of banks are involved as well as the biggest of brokerages.

I agree with the overall view that this administration has made a series of awful appointments. People who are politically "correct" look the other way under a "don't meddle in the markets" philosophy. They didn't and don't enforce the law, they look the other way in the face of clear violations, and aren't that "market bright" about these markets.

Another triumph for Herr Busch.......