THE FREE MARKET FAIRY IS AT WORK AGAIN

Do you remember what happened to the price of oil the last time speculators decided to play in oil futures? According to this report in McClatchy, they're at it again:

What's driving up oil prices again? Wall Street, of course
By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, April 1, 2010

WASHINGTON — Oil consumption has fallen, demand from U.S. motorists for gasoline is flat at best and refiners that turn crude into fuel are operating well below capacity. Yet oil prices keep marching toward $90 a barrel, pushing gasoline toward $3 a gallon in many markets, and prompting American drivers to ask, "What gives?"

Blame it on the same folks who brought you $140 oil and $4 gasoline in 2008: Wall Street speculators.

Experts attribute much of the recent rise in prices to flows of speculative money into oil markets.

Here's what U.S. demand has been like for the past few years...