So here we are again - deja vu... the oil price goes up and who gets the blame - hedge funds and speculators! How many times have I written this article over the last 4-years and how come no one seems to listen?

OK so the oil price is going up again. I wonder why? Could it be that oil is priced in US$ and that currency is at its weakest right now? And if that was the reason for higher oil prices just exactly who is responsible? The very politicians who now want to blame speculators! OK and lets just throw in the fact that Turkey seems to be getting ready to raid Iraq...potentially disrupting oil production from the Kurdish region of Iraq as well as increasing political tensions in an already tense Middle East...and if that is helping push up oil prices then who is to blame? Yes - you got it...those same pesky politicians who like to blame speculators....

Now lets look at hedge funds shall we...how do funds make money? by being able to make money on up and down markets. Funny thing is every time the market moves up - its the hedge funds and every time markets move down - well its good news and who cares! But the hedge funds and other speculative investors were betting the trend up and down.

All speculators do is help liquidity and perhaps increase volatility. They are good for markets.

Its the politicians who are always blaming speculators that ought to be shot.