By James McKee
It is no surprise to anyone that oil and other commodities are big business; few other resources are as vital to everyone’s day-to-day life as oil. The markets and traders that are brought to the commodities markets are often deeply enmeshed in the politics therein, and use this knowledge to profit from speculation. When a commodity such as oil goes up in price dramatically it can cause change in the value of the USD on the online forex exchange. The power of oil is all-too apparent to many who do not hesitate to manipulate the price of the substance in an effort to profit. By creating inaccurate figures from companies that harvest or even transport oil there are ways to profit from the manipulation of information.
Such information can also involve having advanced knowledge of a commodity’s availability prior to the rest of the trading world. Such actions are not seen as ethical, and they are certainly not legal by any stretch of the imagination. When a speculator increases the cost of oil through the manipulation of data so that someone can profit from a long position in the market, they are also causing a rise in the price for the public. This is why many of those in the SEC and other government organizations openly condemn such practices and go after offenders with vigor. The ability of a few traders to profit from the increase in price of a commodity is not only selfish; it is downright destructive and causes alot turmoil in many ways.
Over time there are going to be much more stringent regulations affecting speculators; but, for the time being many are free to do as they wish with the data they are in charge of. Such power and financial incentive can cause many to become corrupt in an effort to make more money. This is a great deal of motivation for traders and other wealthy parties to attempt to “turn” speculators into their own employees. This type of infiltration and corruption has existed since the beginning of any financial market, and it is the reason we have the SEC and other government organizations. There is a good deal of reform being attempted in this area; however, only time will tell if jail time can truly dissuade an individual from taking millions of dollars for a few hours’ worth of work. Ethics and business have long been at odds with one another, and this is just another example of that.
About the Author
Author is a Forex trader and financial analyst residing in Denver, Colorado. To stay up to date on all the latest developments in the financial world and beyond be sure to check out the online forex trading regularly.
What about all the corruption issues involving the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service, the one responsible for royalties and licensing in the offshore drilling? If you remember the oil companies at least once sent a prostitute to a MMS decision maker.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0526/Gulf-oil-spill-Is-MMS-so-corrupt-it-must-be-abolished
That happened in Denver. That’s one reason why I think that whatever is going on with the criminal prosecution of Brenda Stewart, the madame of the Denver Players brothel, should be public. See District of Colorado federal court, 1:10-cr-00580, U.S.A. v. Brenda Stewart, everything is “sealed”. There wasn’t even a motion to “seal”, no public reasons for “sealing”. The Denver Players brothel was reportedly patronized by high government officials. The credit cards that paid for the prostitutes were charged on-line and often weren’t the credit cards of the “johns”. I think the public has a right to know the identity of the people who put their credit cards up for prostitution services for government officials.