Commodities

Supreme Court may decide if market manipulation on U.S. exchanges is illegal

On August 28, IATP co-filed a friend of the court (amicus curiae) brief with Better Markets and the Consumer Federation of America to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who owns the climate smart commodity?

When Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack first announced USDA would spend $1 billion to support projects that produce “climate smart commodities” in February, there was confusion. What exactly is a “climate smart commodity” (CSC)?

Wheat futures prices and the war on regulation

Wheat futures prices reached near historic highs recently, increasing by 50% in the globally price influential Chicago futures market since the Russian military began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

After Trump’s payouts are gone, what happens to farmers?

A farm economy awash in an unprecedented infusion of public dollars directed by the Trump administration could face a reckoning soon. Close to $40 billion in agriculture-related payments this year mask structural problems in a badly broken market that doesn’t pay most farmers enough to continue farming.

Market manipulation, excessive speculation and price fixing in commodities

On October 15, by a 3-to-2 vote, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a woefully inadequate final rule to prevent market manipulation and excessive speculation in physical commodity derivatives contracts.

US agricultural finance for climate resilience

Climate change is a daily presence in the work of farmers, ranchers and farmworkers. In 2018, primary agricultural production (and forestry) accounted for about 10.5% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and offset about 11.6% of all U.S.

CFTC proposes allowing self-regulation of automated trading

Imagine that you are a large institutional investor with billions of dollars to invest. Would you keep your money in the stock market, whose record high prices are fueled by an unprecedented amount of cheap money provided to Wall Street by the Federal Reserve System? Would you buy bonds, whose skyrocketing prices are likewise driven by Fed largesse?

The CFTC shrinks the enforceability of a cross-border trading rule

On July 14, the Financial Times published an interview with Heath Tarbert, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in which he all but announced the results of votes to take place the following week and beyond.