More notice for U.S. government's political intervention in markets

9:47p ET Tuesday, October 3, 2006

More financial market participants are sensing or even recognizing the increasing intervention in the markets by the U.S. government and its agents. Today's most telling observations on this score may have come from Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist for Raymond James Associates in St. Petersburg, Florida, as he was interviewed by (who else?) Jim O'Connell on the "Market Wrap" program on ROB-TV in Canada.

Saut called attention to the recent great diminishment of the gasoline component of the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index and the massive selling this caused in gasoline futures. Saut speculated that this had something to do with the looming congressional elections in the United States and the majority party's desire to get gasoline prices down before voters go to the polls.

Saut also pointed out the development described in the news story appended here, this week's decision by the U.S. Energy Department to delay purchases for the national strategic oil reserve and to delay until next year the collection of 1.7 million barrels still owed to it by oil companies.

That is, again it seems that the government is eager to bail out commodity shorts and punish commodity longs.





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Duration: 7 m 43 s