Energy Speculation Highest on Record, CFTC’s Chilton Says
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Hedge funds and other speculators have increased their positions in energy markets by 64 percent since June 2008 to the highest level on record, according to data released by U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner Bart Chilton.
Speculative positions accounted for more than one million energy futures equivalent contracts as of January, according to the data. Positions in metals and agricultural contracts have increased about 20 percent, Chilton said in a speech prepared for delivery today at the Annual Structured Trade and Export Finance in the Americas Conference in Coral Gables, Florida.