Talk politics.

Was just watching Obama's press conference. When asked about US oil reserves and rising oil prices, he cited two reaons for those rising prices: growing demand by growing economies (such as China and Brazil) and concerns about instability in the Mideast.

Why would he not include the influence of purely speculative capital chasing market-gaming profits in his analysis? Are we so naive as to believe that the oil market is simply governed by supply and demand? Does no one understand how commodity markets work -- and how readily they are manipulated by capital interests?

Protip: Every barrel of oil is subject to 15-27 speculative trades before it is consumed. And regulators have absolutely no way of governing this activity.