Automated Oil Markups & Speculation

Gone from the building are the traders who dealt in silver, gold, orange juice, cotton, cocoa and sugar. The change has not been for the better, says pit trader Anthony Grisanti. “The market can be easily manipulated. The transparency level has gone right down—black boxes control the market now.” Hedge funds and big banks such as Goldman Sachs pile in and out in fractions of a second; speculation is at an all-time high and prices have never been so volatile, he says. According to Grisanti, the market is now full of “icebergs”—trades that appear small on the surface but turn out to be huge on close inspection. Prices are driven up by wild speculation and there appears to be no accountability, he says.