cme just halted energy trading

[chad]

wtf? the cme raises margins to drop in commodity prices, then as prices drop they halt trading? wtf is going on here?

[Mouse]

That's what the Fed calls a trading range. Raise margins to crash the market and when the short starts interfering with JP Morgue's lower priced longs they shut the sucker down.

"Hey Dimon - we need to move some oil down. Yeah, we want it down about 8 bucks then put a floor on it. I don't care, we will call a break if it goes down more than 9 or so. Put in your orders on both ends. I want you to do it in about an hour. Ummm...Yeah. No problem. Mmkay. Buhbye."

[madfranks]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110511-713941.html


The exchange instituted a five-minute halt in trading at 12:06 pm EDT (1606 GMT) after RBOB gasoline futures hit their daily price limit

Price limits: Another example of our glorious free market at work.

[mick silver]

anyone see whats the price of cruel oil today

[ximmy]

anyone see whats the price of cruel oil today


I just checked... Oooh... Look at the mighty dollar rise... ::)

[Spectrism]

anyone see whats the price of cruel oil today


Somewhere around 3 shakes of sadness, 2 lashes of anger & 5 pinches of bitterness. You could probably pick up an equal amount with one vat of vengeance laced with one lick of ludeness.

[madfranks]

anyone see whats the price of cruel oil today


Crude oil is actually up $0.71 but it was gasoline that dropped $0.25 and that set off the triggers. Crazy, isn't it, that 25 cents down movement in gasoline would cause a shutdown?

[platinumdude]

The longer they can keep it down the better.

[mick silver]

we did not go down on our price today . right now at the pump we are making 2 cent a gallon .

[messianicdruid]

"Today is shaping up to be an identical replica of the action from last Thursday as seen on the chart below. That's two flash crashes in less than a week. Whether this is driven by another margin hike known only to the CME and its closest, or due to news from Reuters that 17 senators have written to the CFTC to immediately crack down on excessive speculation in crude oil, is unclear, and largely irrelevant. The outright campaign to stomp out any non-stock trading is in full force. The message is clear: the only place where investors can henceforth put their money in is in stocks.

And from Reuters on the latest attempt to push all commodities to zero, via Reuters

A group of 17 U.S. senators called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday to immediately crack down on excessive speculation in crude oil markets by hastening planned rules to limit concentration.

In a letter to the CFTC's chairman and commissioners, the lawmakers said they wanted the agency to unveil a plan by May 23 to impose position limits in all energy futures markets, beginning with crude oil. The agency has already proposed such limits as part of the financial reform, but has not finalised them.

The senators said the recent drop in crude oil prices, which fell nearly $10 a barrel in one day last week, defy supply and demand conditions. Oil prices bounced back almost $6 a barrel on Monday, but then fell more than $5 on Wednesday. Gasoline prices slumped by more than 8 percent.

"The wild fluctuation could only be the result of rampant oil speculation, plain and simple," said Senator Ron Wyden, one of the lawmakers who wrote to the CFTC demanding action, in some of the strongest language attacking speculators since oil prices surged to a record $147 a barrel in 2008.

"The CFTC needs a plan to impose position limits on oil speculation before oil speculators drive up prices even higher just as Americans go to the pumps to fill up for Memorial Day weekend," he said.

The CFTC is weighing new rules that would slap limits on the positions of big commodity traders, capping how many futures and swaps contracts any one company can control.

The Dodd-Frank law passed last July gives the agency the power to set position limits to curb excessive speculation in 28 commodities, including energy, metals and agricultural markets, "as appropriate."

But some of the agency's own commissioners are skeptical the limits would prevent a run-up in prices, and experts and traders have long said the rules risk making markets more volatile by reducting liquidity."

interesting chart at the link:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/commodity-flash-crash-part-two-senators-demand-immediate-position-limits-crude

[mick silver]

the people with power and money will just move there trades over seas . they make rules then the banks and companys trading look for ways to play the rules

[Ponce]

If the price was going UP they would never dare to stop it but because it was going DOWN they got their marching orders to closed it down.....anything for the companies and FK the people.

[Horn]

wtf? the cme raises margins to drop in commodity prices, then as prices drop they halt trading? wtf is going on here?


Chavez would be envious.

[Ponce]

We get our oil from #1 Canada.....2 Mexico.....3 Saudis.....4 Venezuela....oh yea, we are in trouble.

[Bullion_Bob]

That's what the Fed calls a trading range. Raise margins to crash the market and when the short starts interfering with JP Morgue's lower priced longs they shut the sucker down.

"Hey Dimon - we need to move some oil down. Yeah, we want it down about 8 bucks then put a floor on it. I don't care, we will call a break if it goes down more than 9 or so. Put in your orders on both ends. I want you to do it in about an hour. Ummm...Yeah. No problem. Mmkay. Buhbye."




Which is why many traders call the whole mess a casino where things happen that make absolutely no sense.

Which is why if you want to stop the cycle you have to *physically* take their "toys" away. Perhaps this is naive. Perhaps not so much.

Perhaps the slow rope method is the only solution.

Maybe stack some rope as well just in case it comes time to clean up your neck of the woods. ;D