Quote:
Originally Posted by Gladiator  "Bashing futures traders may well be good politics, but it's stupid public policy. By providing a mechanism for locking in prices, the futures market makes it easier for oil companies to make costly investments in new production - which is the key to lowering prices at the pump.
Futures trading also discourages hoarding in an otherwise tight market. Without speculators willing to take the other side of so many futures contracts, oil refiners and other end-users might be inclined to ramp up their spot-market purchases and store more oil as a hedge against further price increases. " In defense of oil 'speculators' - Jun. 27, 2008
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No one is bashing airlines, oil companies, and so on for buying oil futures to hedge against future prices increases. Thats exactly what commodity markets are for.
The problem is that's currently only 30% or so of the those purchasing oil futures. The other 70% are primarily hedge funds, and other outside investors looking to hedge against declines in the dollar, or future mortgage security loses.