I agree, Doug. Speculators in the market have indeed affected the prices of stock, bonds and commodities. Unregulated speculation and speculators borrowing and buying on margin with broker loans was one of the contributing factors to the depression of the 1930's.

I find the Congressional proposals to be interesting also. Other than possibly requiring speculators to take possession of the oil involved in the contracts, I have not yet heard what else is being considered. I think the thrust of the legislation is to make speculation less attractive to a multitude of  smaller short term investors and to cool an overheated pricing structure in the commodities market. If they have to warehouse and store the oil in the interim the transaction becomes more cumbersome for the smaller investor.