Devil or Angel? The Role of Speculation in the Recent Commodity Price Boom (and Bust) 

by 

Scott H. Irwin, Dwight R. Sanders, and Robert P. Merrin*

Invited paper presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meetings, Atlanta, 

Georgia, January 31-February 3, 2009 

 

*

 Scott H. Irwin is the Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing in the Department of Agricultural and 

Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dwight R. Sanders is an Associate 

Professor in the Department of Agribusiness Economics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois. Robert 

P. Merrin is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Finance at Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands. Todd Petzel and 

seminar participants at the University of Illinois, Guelph University, and the Economic Research Service of the 

USDA provided valuable comments on earlier versions of the paper. Funding support from the Aurene T. Norton 

Trust is gratefully acknowledged. 
Devil or Angel? The Role of Speculation in the Recent Commodity Price Boom (and Bust) 

Abstract 

It is commonly asserted that speculative buying by index funds in commodity futures and overthe-counter (OTC) derivatives markets created a “bubble” in commodity prices, with the result 

that prices, and crude oil prices, in particular, far exceeded fundamental values at the peak. The 

purpose of this paper is to show that the bubble argument simply does not withstand close 

scrutiny. Four main points are explored. First, the arguments of bubble proponents are 

conceptually flawed and reflect fundamental and basic misunderstandings of how commodity 

futures markets actually work. Second, a number of facts about the current situation in 

commodity markets are inconsistent with the existence of a substantial bubble in commodity 

prices. Third, available statistical evidence does not indicate that positions for any group in 

commodity futures markets, including long-only index funds, consistently lead futures price 

changes. Fourth, there is a historical pattern of attacks upon speculation during periods of 

extreme market volatility. 
Devil or Angel? The Role of Speculation in the Recent Commodity Price Boom (and Bust) 

Introduction 

Led by crude oil, commodity prices reached dizzying heights during mid-2008 and then 

subsequently declined with breathtaking speed (see Figure 1). The impact of speculation, 

principally by long-only index funds, on the boom and bust in commodity prices has been hotly 

debated.1

 It is commonly asserted that speculative buying by index funds in commodity futures 

and over-the- counter (OTC) derivatives markets created a “bubble,” with the result that 

commodity prices, and crude oil prices, in particular, far exceeded fundamental values at the 

peak (e.g., Gheit, 2008; Masters 2008; Masters and White, 2008). The main thrust of bubble 

arguments is that: i) a large amount of speculative money was invested in different types of 

commodity derivatives over the last several years, ii) this ‘titanic’ wave of money resulted in 

significant and unwarranted upward pressure on commodity prices, and iii) when the flow of 

speculative money reversed the bubble burst. Based on the bubble argument, a number of bills 

have been introduced in the U.S. Congress with the purpose of prohibiting or limiting index fund 

speculation in commodity futures and OTC derivative markets. 

The purpose of this paper is to show that the bubble argument simply does not withstand 

close scrutiny. Four main points are explored. First, the arguments of bubble proponents are 

conceptually flawed and reflect fundamental and basic misunderstandings of how commodity 

futures markets actually work. Second, a number of facts about the current situation in 

commodity markets are inconsistent with the existence of a substantial bubble in commodity 

prices. Third, available statistical evidence does not indicate that positions for any group in 

commodity futures markets, including long-only index funds, consistently lead futures price 
2

changes. Fourth, there is a historical pattern of attacks upon speculation during periods of 

extreme market volatility. 

Conceptual Errors

As noted in the introduction, bubble proponents argue that large investment flows, through 

index-type investments, resulted in unjustified upward pressure on commodity prices. Not only 

was the pressure unjustified according to bubble proponents, but it also caused very large overvaluations of commodities. For example, Fadel Gheit, Managing Director and Senior Oil 

Analyst for Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., made the following statement while testifying before the 

U.S. House of Representatives in June 2008: 

"I firmly believe that the current record oil price in excess of $135 per barrel is inflated. I 

believe, based on supply and demand fundamentals, crude oil prices should not be above 

$60 per barrel...There were no unexpected changes in industry fundamentals in the last 

12 months, when crude oil prices were below $65 per barrel. I cannot think of any reason 

that explains the run-up in crude oil price, beside excessive speculation.” (Gheit, 2008). 

While bubble arguments may seem sensible on the surface, they contain conceptual errors that 

reflect a fundamental and basic misunderstanding of how commodity futures and OTC derivative 

markets actually work. 

The first and most fundamental error is to equate money flows into futures and 

derivatives markets with demand, at least as economists define the term. Investment dollars 

flowing into either the long or short side of futures or derivative markets is not the same thing as 

demand for physical commodities. Our esteemed predecessor at the University of Illinois, Tom 

Hieronymus, put it this way, “...for every long there is a short, for everyone who thinks the price 

is going up there is someone who thinks it is going down, and for everyone who trades with the 

flow of the market, there is someone trading against it.” (Hieronymus, 1977, pp. 302) These are 
3

zero-sum markets where all money flows must by definition net to zero. It makes as much 

logical sense to call the long positions of index funds new “demand” as it does to call the 

positions on the short side of the same contracts new “supply.” 

An important and related point is that a very large number of futures and derivative 

contracts can be created at a given price level. In theory, there is no limit. This is another way 

of saying that flows of money, no matter how large, do not necessarily affect the futures price of 

a commodity at a given point in time. Prices will change if new information emerges that causes 

market participants to revise their estimates of physical supply and/or demand. Note that a 

contemporaneous correlation can exist between money flows (position changes) and price 

changes if information on fundamentals is changing at the same time. Simply observing that 

large investment has flowed into the long side of commodity futures markets at the same time 

that prices have risen substantially (or the reverse) does not necessarily prove anything. This is 

more than likely the classical statistical mistake of confusing correlation with causation. One 

needs a test that accounts for changes in money flow and fundamentals before a conclusion can 

be reached about the impact of speculation. 

It should be said that the previous argument assumes all market participants are equally 

informed. When this is not the case, it is rational for participants to condition demands on both 

their own information and information about other participants’ demands that can be inferred 

(“inverted”) from the futures price (Grossman, 1986). The trades of uninformed participants can 

impact prices in this more complex model if informed traders mistakenly believe that trades by 

uninformed participants reflect valuable information. An argument along these lines can be 

applied to the rise of index funds in commodity markets. It is possible that traders interpreted the 

large order flow of index funds on the long side of the market as a reflection of valuable private 
4

information about commodity price prospects, which would have had the effect of driving price 

higher as these traders subsequently revised their own demands upward. Given the publicity that 

accompanied index fund entry into commodity futures markets and the transparency of their 

trading methods, it is highly doubtful that this happened on a wide enough scale in recent years 

to consistently drive price movements (more on this in a later discussion of noise trading). 

The second conceptual error is to argue that index fund investors artificially raise both 

futures and cash commodity prices when they only participate in futures and related derivatives 

markets. In the short-run, from minutes to a few days, commodity prices typically are 

discovered in futures markets and price changes are passed from futures to cash markets (e.g., 

Garbade and Silber, 1983). This is sensible because trading can be conducted more quickly and 

cheaply in futures compared to cash markets. However, longer-term equilibrium prices are 

ultimately determined in cash markets where buying and selling of physical commodities must 

reflect fundamental supply and demand forces. This is precisely why all commodity futures 

contracts have some type of delivery or cash settlement system to tie futures and cash market 

prices together. Of course, delivery systems do not always work as well as one would hope 

(Irwin et al., 2008). 

It is crucial to understand that there is no change of ownership (title) of physical 

quantities until delivery occurs at or just before expiration of a commodity futures contract. 

These contracts are financial transactions that only rarely involve the actual delivery of physical 

commodities. In order to impact the equilibrium price of commodities in the cash market, index 

investors would have to take delivery and/or buy quantities in the cash market and hold these 

inventories off the market. There is absolutely no evidence of index fund investors taking 

delivery and owning stocks of commodities. Furthermore, the scale of this effort would have 
5

had to been immense to manipulate a world-wide cash market as large as the crude oil market, 

and there simply is no evidence that index funds were engaged in the necessary cash market 

activities. 

This discussion should make it clear that it is wrong to draw a parallel (e.g., Masters and 

White, 2008) between index fund positions and past efforts to “corner” commodity markets, such 

as the Hunt brother’s effort to manipulate the silver market in 1979-80. The Hunt brothers spent 

tens of millions of dollars buying silver in the cash market, as well as accumulating and 

financing huge positions in the silver futures market (Williams, 1995). All attempts at such 

corners eventually have to buy large, and usually increasing, quantities in the cash market. As 

Tom Hieronymus noted so colorfully, there is always a corpse (inventory) that has to be disposed 

of eventually. Since there is no evidence that index funds had any participation in the delivery 

process of commodity futures markets or the cash market in general, there is no obvious reason 

to expect their trading to have impacted equilibrium cash prices. 

A third conceptual error made by many bubble proponents, and unfortunately, many 

other observers of futures and derivatives markets, is an unrealistic understanding of the trading 

activities of hedgers and speculators. In the standard story, hedgers are benign risk-avoiders and 

speculators are active risk-seekers. This ignores nearly a century of research by Holbrook 

Working, Roger Gray, Tom Hieronymus, Lester Telser, Anne Peck, and others, showing that the 

behavior of hedgers and speculators is actually better described as a continuum between pure risk 

avoidance and pure speculation. Nearly all commercial firms labeled as “hedgers” speculate on 

price direction and/or relative price movements, some frequently, others not as frequently. In the 

parlance of modern financial economics, this is described as hedgers “taking a view on the 

market” (e.g., Stulz, 1996). Apparently, there is also some contamination in the non-commercial 
6

category, with “speculators” engaged in hedging activities. This problem is highlighted in the 

recent Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) report on swap dealers and index 

traders, which included the statement that, “The current data received by the CFTC classifies 

positions by entity (commercial versus noncommercial) and not by trading activity (speculation 

versus hedging). These trader classifications have grown less precise over time, as both groups 

may be engaging in hedging and speculative activity.” (CFTC, 2008b, p. 2) 

What all this means is that the entry of index funds into commodity futures markets did 

not disturb a sterile textbook equilibrium of pure risk-avoiding hedgers and pure risk-seeking 

speculators, but instead the funds entered a dynamic and ever changing “game” between 

commercial firms and speculators with various motivations and strategies. Since large 

commercial firms can take advantage of information gleaned from their far-flung cash market 

operations, it is not unreasonable to expect that these firms have a trading advantage compared to 

all but a few very large speculators.2

 The following passage from a recent article on Cargill, 

Inc. (Davis, 2009) corroborates this view of the operation of commodity futures markets: 

Wearing multiple hats gives Cargill an unusually detailed view of the industries it bets 

on, as well as the ability to trade on its knowledge in ways few others can match. Cargill 

freely acknowledges it strives to profit from that information. "When we do a good job of 

assimilating all those seemingly unrelated facts," says Greg Page, Cargill's chief 

executive, in a rare interview, "it provides us an opportunity to make money...without 

necessarily having to make directional trades, i.e., outguess the weather, outguess 

individual governments." 

This sheds an entirely different light on the entry of large index fund speculators into commodity 

futures and derivatives markets. Large hedgers are no innocents in this game and their economic 

interests are not easily harmed by new entrants. 
7

Inconsistent Facts 

In addition to logical errors, a number of facts about the situation in commodity markets are 

inconsistent with the arguments of bubble proponents. To begin, if speculation drove futures 

prices consistently above fundamental values, the available data indicates it was not obvious in 

the relative level of speculation to hedging. The statistics on long-only index fund trading 

reported in the media and discussed at Congressional hearings tend to view speculation in a 

vacuum—focusing on absolute position size and activity. As first pointed out by Working 

(1960), an objective analysis of futures market activity must consider the balance between 

speculators and commercial firms hedging market risks. A key insight from this framework is 

that speculation can only be considered ‘excessive’ relative to the level of hedging activity in the 

market.3

 

Weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) data provided by the CFTC are enlightening in 

this regard. Table 1 shows the division of open interest for nine commodity futures markets, 

averaged for the first three months of 2006 and 2008.4 The four basic hedging and speculative 

positions are: HL = Hedging Long = Commercial Long Positions; HS = Hedging Short = 

Commercial Short Positions; SL = Speculation Long = Non-Commercial Long + Index Trader 

Long Positions; SS = Speculation Short = Non-Commercial Short + Index Trader Short 

Positions. Note that index fund traders are allocated almost exclusively to the SL category in 

Table 1 and that HL + SL = HS + SS.5 

As expected, Table 1 reveals that long speculation—driven by index funds—increased 

sharply in all but one of the nine commodity futures markets over January 2006 through April 

2008.6

 In four of the eight markets with an increase in long speculation (corn, soybeans, 

soybean oil, and cotton), the increase in short hedging actually exceeded the increase in long 
8

speculation. Corn provides a pertinent example. Speculative buying in corn, which includes 

commodity index funds for this analysis, increased by nearly 250,000 contracts; but, selling by 

commercial firms involved in the production and processing of corn increased by an even greater 

amount, around 500,000 contracts. What this means is that long speculators (as a group) must 

have been trading with short hedgers. Working (1960) argued that this was beneficial to overall 

market performance since speculators provide liquidity and risk-bearing capacity for hedgers. 

In the other four markets with an increase in long speculation (CBOT wheat, live cattle, 

feeder cattle, and lean hogs), the increase in short hedging was less than the increase in long 

speculation. Live cattle provides a pertinent example here. Speculative buying in cattle, again 

including commodity index funds, increased by nearly 70,000 contracts; whereas selling by 

commercial firms increased by only about 16,000 contracts. In this situation the bulk of the 

increase in long speculation had to be absorbed by an increase in short speculation. Working 

(1960, p. 210) argued that trading between speculators generally was “unneeded” and reflected 

either, “entry into the market of a considerable group of inexpert or ill-informed speculators” or 

“recognition by one group of speculators of significant economic conditions or prospects that are 

currently being ignored by other, equally expert and generally well-informed, speculators.” 

Either case could result in a deterioration of market performance. However, Sanders, Irwin, and 

Merrin (2008a) show that the observed increase in speculation for these markets was still well 

within historical bounds for commodity futures markets. Even higher levels of speculation have 

been observed in the past without adverse consequences for market performance. 

In sum, observed speculative levels in commodity futures markets since early 2006, even 

after accounting for index trader positions, either did not exceed the hedging needs of 
9

commercial firms or did not exceed historical norms for the level of speculation relative to 

hedging needs. Simply put, there is no compelling evidence that speculation was ‘excessive.’ 

The second inconsistent fact is that price movements in futures markets with substantial 

index fund investment were not uniformly upward through the spring of 2008. Panel A in Table 

2 shows the increase in commodity futures prices over January 2006—April 2008 for the same 

nine markets as in Table 1. The spectacular price increases were concentrated in grain and 

oilseed markets, while prices in other markets either increased moderately or declined. It is 

especially interesting to note that prices either dropped or rose only slightly in the markets with 

the highest level of speculation relative to hedging (Table 1: live cattle, feeder cattle, and lean 

hogs). Figure 2 reveals the same pattern in a different form. Here the position of commodity 

index traders over time is plotted as a percentage of total market open interest. The highest 

concentration of index fund positions was often in livestock markets, the very markets without 

large price increases through the spring of 2008. It is difficult to rationalize why index fund 

speculation would have little or no impact in commodity futures markets with the highest 

concentration of index positions, relative to either hedging positions or total open interest, yet 

have a large impact in the markets with the lowest concentration. 

The third inconsistent fact is that high prices were also observed in commodity markets 

not connected to index fund investment. Panels B and C in Table 2 provide four examples.7

 

Rough rice futures and fluid milk futures are not included in popular commodity indices tracked 

by index funds, but prices in these two markets increased 162% and 37%, respectively, over 

January 2006—April 2008. Apples for fresh use and edible beans do not have futures markets, 

and thus no index fund investment, yet prices in these markets increased 58% and 78%, 

respectively, over the same time interval. If index fund speculation caused a bubble in 
10

commodity prices, why then did prices increase substantially in commodity markets without any 

index fund activity? 

A fourth inconsistent fact has to do with inventories for storable commodities. Following 

Krugman (2008), Figure 3 illustrates market equilibrium for a storable commodity with and 

without a price bubble. The standard equilibrium occurs at the intersection of the supply and 

demand curves and results in a price of PE . Now assume there is a bubble in the market that 

pushes price above equilibrium to PB . At this inflated price the quantity supplied exceeds 

quantity demanded and the excess shows up as a rise in inventories. We should therefore 

observe an increase in inventories when a bubble is present in storable commodity markets. In 

fact, inventories for corn, wheat, and soybeans fell sharply over the last three years. Inventories 

of other commodities, such as crude oil, stayed relatively flat or declined modestly until very 

recently. The lack of a notable buildup in commodity inventories is one more reason to be 

skeptical that a large bubble developed in commodity futures prices. 

A fifth inconsistent fact is the nature of commodity index trading. The literature on 

“noise traders” shows that a group of uninformed traders can consistently push prices away from 

fundamental value only if their market opinions are unpredictable, with the unpredictability 

serving as a deterrent to arbitrage (e.g., De Long et al., 1990). This notion seems unlikely given 

the ease with which other large traders can trade against index fund positions. Index funds do 

not attempt to hide their current position or their next move. Generally, funds that track a 

popular commodity index (e.g., Goldman Sachs Commodity Index) publish their mechanical 

procedures for rolling to new contract months. Moreover, they usually indicate desired market 

weightings when the index is re-balanced. So, the main uncertainty in their trading patterns 
11

usually stems from overall in-flow or out-flows of monies associated with the underlying 

investment vehicle. 

The problems created by the mechanical trading of index funds is well-illustrated by a 

recent story (Meyer and Cui, 2009) on problems experienced by the U.S. Oil Fund L.P., the 

largest exchange-traded crude oil index fund, when rolling positions from one nearby contract to 

the next: 

“It's like taking candy from a baby,” said Nauman Barakat, senior vice president at 

Macquarie Futures USA in New York. That candy comes out of the returns of investors 

in the fund. Take Feb. 6, when U.S. Oil moved its 80,000 contracts from March to April 

at the end of the trading day, selling the March contract and buying April. Because U.S. 

Oil publishes the dates of its roll in advance, traders knew the switch was coming. At 2 

p.m., 30 minutes before closing, trading in New York Mercantile Exchange oil contracts 

soared, and the price of the April contract narrowed to $4 more than the March contract. 

Within minutes, that gap had widened and closed at $5.98, according to trading records. 

As the fund's managers were about to roll their contracts, "suddenly came the awfully 

extreme move," said one manager. Some said the move is a sign that big trades were 

placed ahead of U.S. Oil's roll. The price move instantly made it more expensive for U.S. 

Oil to roll into the April contract and cost the fund about $120 million more than it would 

have a day earlier.” 

As the above passage so amply highlights, it is highly unlikely that other well-capitalized 

speculators, such as commodity trading advisors, hedge funds, and large floor traders, would 

allow index funds to push futures prices away from fundamental values when index trades are so 

easily anticipated. 

A related point is that large and long-lasting bubbles are less likely in markets where 

deviations from fundamental value can be readily arbitraged away (easily “poached” in the 

terminology of Patel, Zeckhauser, and Hendricks (1991)). There are few limitations to arbitrage 

in commodity futures markets because the cost of trading is relatively low, trades can be 

executed literally by the minute, and gains and losses are marked-to-the-market daily. Moreover, 

the finite horizon of futures contracts further diminishes the likelihood that speculative arbitrage 
12

is limited (Shleifer and Summers, 1990). This stands in contrast to markets where arbitrage is 

more difficult, such as residential housing. The low likelihood of bubbles is also supported by 

numerous empirical studies on the efficiency of price discovery in commodity futures markets 

(e.g., Zulauf and Irwin, 1998). Where pricing problems have been documented, they are 

typically associated with the delivery period of particular commodity futures contracts. 

However, as noted by the CFTC in a recent background memorandum on the application of its 

emergency powers, even this type of problem has only risen to an “emergency” level three times 

since the Commission was founded in 1974 (CFTC, 2008a). 

Empirical Tests 

The preceding discussion focuses on empirical facts that are inconsistent with substantial bubbles 

in commodity futures prices. When considered as a whole, these facts build a persuasive case 

against bubbles. However, the facts are largely circumstantial, since they tend to rely on indirect 

evidence. Bubble proponents can then argue that “this time is different” even if the links 

between commodity money flows and bubbles are not fully understood. This is an especially 

difficult argument to settle because the one variable that can provide definitive evidence about 

the level of commodity prices—fundamental value—is unobservable. It is like politics, everyone 

has an opinion. 

While fundamental value is unobservable, all is not lost. It is still possible to conduct 

empirical tests of the hypothesis that money flows from index funds aided and abetted the recent 

boom and bust in commodity prices. This can be done by running standard Granger causality 

tests between futures price changes and position changes in commodity futures markets. These 

tests establish whether lagged position changes help to forecast current futures price changes. 8 
13

Sanders, Boris, and Manfredo (2004), Bryant, Bessler, and Haigh (2006), Gorton, Hayashi, and 

Rouwenhorst (2007), and Sanders, Irwin, and Merrin (2008b) conduct Granger causality tests 

using publically available data on positions of commercial, non-commercial, and non-reporting 

trader groups from the weekly COT report published by the CFTC.9

 A typical set of results, 

drawn from Sanders, Irwin, and Merrin (2008b), is presented in Table 3. A statistically 

significant relationship between the movement of commodity futures prices and measures of 

position change is found in only 5 out of 30 cases. In other words, position changes by COT 

trader groups helps forecast futures price movements in only 16% of the cases, hardly more than 

what one would expect based on pure randomness. And the evidence is even slimmer if results 

are limited to non-commercial traders (speculators). 

The previously cited studies cast considerable doubt on the value of position changes for 

any group in consistently forecasting futures price movements. However, these studies also use 

publically-reported COT data, which is aggregated across all contracts and reported only on a 

weekly or monthly basis. This may limit the power of Granger causality tests because positions 

cannot be matched precisely to contract maturity months and positions cannot be tracked over 

daily intervals. Some have argued that if speculator positions do impact returns it is most likely 

over time horizons shorter than a week (Streeter and Tomek, 1992). 

The Interagency Task Force on Commodity Markets led by the CFTC recently conducted 

thorough Granger causality tests for the crude oil futures market using non-public data on the 

daily positions of commercial and non-commercial traders (ITFCM, 2008). Daily price changes 

and position changes for commercial and non-commercial traders, as well as various sub-groups 

of traders, were examined over January 2003—June 2008. Consistent with the findings in other 

studies, there was no evidence that daily position changes by any of the trader sub-categories 
14

systematically led crude oil futures price changes over the full sample period. This result held 

for all categories of speculators tracked by the CFTC: non-commercial traders in total, hedge 

funds, swap dealers, and non-commercial traders combined with swap dealers. At least in the 

crude oil futures markets, Granger causality test results are unaffected by the use of daily versus 

weekly data or position changes for sub-groups of traders. This bolsters the findings from other 

studies that did not have access to such detailed data on trader positions. 

Bubble proponents can still point out that none of the above referenced studies tested 

specifically whether commodity index trader positions help to forecast price movements over the 

last several years. In forthcoming work, Aulerich and Irwin (2009) provide just this type of 

evidence for 12 commodity futures markets. They conduct Granger causality tests using nonpublic data from the CFTC on the daily positions of commodity index traders over January 2000 

through July 2008. A unique feature of this study is that the authors were able to extend the 

series on commodity index positions back through the entire sample under study for each of the 

12 markets. Aulerich and Irwin found only a few cases where index trader position changes 

helped to forecast price changes in commodity futures markets. When significance was found 

the size of the estimated price impact was small. These findings also held when the sample was 

broken into sub-periods. 

While it is always possible to dither over the power of Granger causality tests or whether 

specifications adequately control for changing fundamentals, the evidence to date leads to a high 

degree of skepticism that positions for any group in commodity futures markets, including index 

traders, consistently forecast futures price changes (this will not be true for skilled individual 

traders within a group). 
15

Lessons from History 

A pervasive theme running through the history of U.S. futures markets is skepticism or out-andout hostility towards speculators (Jacks, 2007).10 Rapidly increasing or decreasing commodity 

prices at various times over the last 125 years have been accompanied by assorted attempts to 

curtail speculation or control prices. For example, just after World War II, soaring grain futures 

prices, especially for wheat, attracted political attention. President Truman proclaimed that, “the 

cost of living in this country must not be a football to be kicked around by grain gamblers,” and 

ordered the Commodity Exchange Authority (precursor to today’s Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission) to require futures exchanges to raise margins to 33% on all speculative positions, a 

truly extraordinary level. In a statement that echoes those being made today, President Truman 

added, “If the grain exchanges refuse, the government may find it necessary to limit the amount 

of trading.”11

In the boldest move against speculators in U.S. commodity futures, trade in onion futures 

was banned by the U.S. Congress in 1958. The ban, actually still in place, was due to the 

widespread belief that speculative activity created excessive price variation (Working, 1963). 

Again, in language very similar to that heard today, a Congressional report stated that 

“speculative activity in the futures markets causes such severe and unwarranted fluctuations in 

the price of cash onions as to require complete prohibition of onion futures trading in order to 

assure the orderly flow of onions in interstate commerce.”12

The experience of the last time period with a comparable level of structural change in 

commodity markets, 1972-1975, is particularly instructive. U.S. and international commodity 

markets experienced a period of rapid price increases from 1972-1975, setting new all-time highs 

across a broad range of markets. These price increases were often blamed on speculative 
16

behavior associated with the “...tremendous expansion of trading in futures in a wide range of 

commodities” (Cooper and Lawrence, 1975, p. 702).13 Following these price increases, public 

and political pressure to curb speculation resulted in a number of regulatory proposals and the 

upward adjustment of futures margin requirements (Hieronymus, 1977; Rainbolt, 1977; Tomek, 

1985). These changes were accompanied by even more drastic measures—such as federal price 

controls and an embargo against soybean exports—aimed at lowering commodity price levels. 

The actions used to reign in supposedly damaging speculation in the past run the gamut 

from requiring futures exchanges to raise margins to an outright ban on futures trading. The 

historical evidence is thin, at best, that measures to limit the impact of speculation had the 

desired effect on market prices. For instance, there is no historical evidence that directives to 

increase futures margins were effective at lowering overall price levels. The only consistently 

documented impact of the higher margin requirements is a decline in futures trading volume due 

to the increased cost of trading (Fishe and Goldberg, 1986; Peck and Budge, 1987; Haradouvelis 

and Kim, 1996). 

 Finally, it is important to note the historical pattern of attacks upon speculation. Petzel 

(1981, p. 117) commented that, “In periods of rising prices (e.g., the early 1920s, the Korean 

War, inflation, and the 1970s) grain speculators have been accused of increasing the prices of 

agricultural commodities artificially. During the early 1930s when agricultural prices were low, 

grain speculators were accused of depressing prices.” Market cycles seem to be accompanied by 

a predictable pattern of speculative complaints: when prices are exceptionally low, natural sellers 

in the market, such as farmers, complain that speculators are the problem and when prices are 

exceptionally high, natural buyers in the market – consumers and processors – complain about 

speculators. While his focus was a relatively obscure episode in the 1925 wheat market, the 
17

conclusion reached by Petzel (1981, p. 126) applies with equal force today, “...it is all too easy 

after suffering an economic loss to look for the villain in the piece. In 1925 the public found its 

villains and conspirators in the large speculators.” 

Conclusions 

There is little evidence that the recent boom and bust in commodity prices was driven by a 

speculative bubble. If speculation by long-only index funds did impact commodity futures 

prices, it is not evident in the empirical evidence available to date. Economic fundamentals, as 

usual, provide a better explanation for the movements in commodity prices. The main factors 

driving prices up in the energy markets included strong demand from China, India, and other 

developing nations, a leveling out of crude oil production, a decrease in the responsiveness of 

consumers to price increases, and U.S. monetary policy (Hamilton, 2008). In the grain markets, 

factors driving up prices also included demand growth from developing nations and U.S. 

monetary policy, as well as the diversion of row crops to bio-fuel production and weather-related 

production shortfalls (Trostle, 2008). The favorable demand factors were reversed in quick order 

due to the recent financial market meltdown and burgeoning world-wide recession, leading to 

large price drops across-the-board in commodity futures markets (Good and Irwin, 2008). The 

complex interplay between these factors and how they impact commodity prices is often difficult 

to grasp in real-time and speculators have historically provided a convenient scapegoat for 

frustration with rapidly rising and falling prices.14 

Legislative proposals currently being considered may in fact curtail speculation—through 

reduced volume of trade—but the initiatives could severely compromise the ability of 

commodity markets to accommodate the needs of firms to manage price risks. In particular, 

limiting the participation of index fund investors would rob the markets of an important source 
18

of liquidity and risk-bearing capacity at a time when both are in high demand. The net result is 

that commodity futures markets will become less efficient mechanisms for transferring risk from 

parties who don’t want to bear it to those that do, creating added costs that ultimately get passed 

back to producers in the form of lower prices and back to consumers as higher prices. 

 The recent attacks on speculation in commodity markets harkens back to an earlier era. 

For most of the past 30 years a consensus seemed to have been reached among policy-makers 

that speculation played a valuable and important role in commodity futures markets. Writing in 

the 1970s, Tom Hieronymus had this to say about the matter: 

“For many years the anti-futures trading arguments tended to prevail so that speculation 

was treated as a necessary evil that accompanied the desirable hedging process. During 

the last decade the balance appears to have shifted so that a favorable view is more 

widely held. It is doubtful that the favorable view is yet in the majority but it is generally 

held by students of futures markets and increasingly held by members of Congress and 

the CFTC.” (Hieronymus, 1977, p. 298) 

Much to the surprise of agricultural economists, there is little doubt after the political uproar of 

the last year that a majority of the public still does not hold a favorable view of speculation. It is 

yet to be determined whether members of the U.S. Congress hold the same view and whether this 

portends a return to the anti-futures trading environment of an earlier era. 
19

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23

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24

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25

Endnotes 

1

 In reality, a variety of investment instruments are lumped under the heading “commodity index 

fund.” Individuals may enter directly into over-the-counter (OTC) contracts with swap dealers to 

gain the desired exposure to returns from a particular index of commodity prices. Some firms 

also offer investment funds whose returns are tied to a commodity index. Exchange-traded funds 

(ETFs) and structured notes (ETNs) have also recently been developed to make it even easier to 

gain commodity exposure. ETFs and ETNs trade on securities exchanges in the same manner as 

stocks on individual companies. See Engelke and Yuen (2008) and CFTC (2008b) for further 

details. 

2

 Hieronymus (1977) argued that large commercial firms dominated commodity futures markets 

and speculators tended to be at a disadvantage. Based on his theoretical analysis, Grossman 

(1986, p. S140) asserted, “...it should come as no surprise if a study of trading profit finds that 

traders representing large firms involved in the spot commodity (i.e., commercial traders) make 

large trading profits on futures markets.” In the classic empirical study on this subject, 

Hartzmark (1987) showed that large commercial firms in six of seven futures markets make 

substantial profits on their futures trades. 

3

 Peck (1979-80, p. 339) provides a succinct re-statement of Working’s argument, “Taken 

together, these analyses reaffirm the fundamental importance of hedging to futures markets and 

dependence of total activity upon hedging needs. The results also lend support to the Working 

definition of an appropriate measure of hedger demands upon a market. Net hedging is not the 

most useful view of the demands commercial users make on a market. Speculation is needed to 

offset both long hedging and short hedging. Only coincidentally are long and short hedgers 
26

sufficiently alike in date and amount to be offsetting, although increased balance increases the 

probability of such correspondence and differences in seasonal needs between long and short 

hedgers decreases this probability. The appropriate measure of minimum required speculation 

must at least begin with total hedging demand.” 

4

 Note that total open interest consists of futures open interest and delta-adjusted options open 

interest. 

5

 Non-reporting trader positions are allocated to the commercial, non-commercial, and index 

trader categories in the same proportion as that which is observed for reporting traders (see 

Sanders, Irwin, and Merrin, 2008a). 

6

 There is an important omission from Table 1—crude oil futures. As the CFTC noted when it 

first began publishing data on index fund positions, it is difficult to separate out index fund 

transactions in energy markets because of the degree to which many firms in these markets 

engage in multiple trading activities that fall into different classifications and the degree to which 

firms engage in internal netting of these activities. The special swap dealer survey (CFTC, 

2008b) does provide an estimate of index trader positions in the crude oil futures market; 

however, the data are limited to a six-month period from December 31, 2007 to June 30, 2008 

and reported only on a net long basis. Computations for crude oil that parallel those reported in 

Table 1 can be made only by assuming that short positions for index funds are zero. 

7

 The four markets were not selected at random, but instead represent markets that generally have 

low-cross price elasticities relative to the nine markets in Panel A. If the selected markets had 

high cross-price elasticities, then observed price increases could have been due to linkages with 
27

the markets in Panel A (and possibly bubble effects in these markets) rather than fundamental 

factors specific to the selected markets or fundamental factors common to all the markets. 

8

 Granger causality tests reflect the basic idea that if event X causes event Y, then event X should 

precede event Y in time. These tests require careful interpretation if the null hypothesis of no 

causality (no statistical prediction) is rejected (Hamilton, 1994). A statistical correlation may be 

observed between X and Y when in reality an omitted variable Z is the true cause of both X and Y. 

Hamilton (1994, p. 308) suggests it is better to describe “Granger causality” tests between X and 

Y as tests of whether X helps forecast Y rather than whether X causes Y. He notes that the tests 

may have implications for causality in the conventional sense, but only in conjunction with other 

assumptions. 

9

 In a work well ahead of its time, Petzel (1981) conducted Granger causality tests between the 

daily position changes of three groups of speculators and price changes for the May 1925 wheat 

futures contract at the Chicago Board of Trade. Foreshadowing later results, he did not find any 

evidence that lagged position changes helped to forecast current price changes. 

10 See Stout (1999) for an in-depth discussion of the legal and regulatory history of opposition to 

speculation in the U.S. 

11 Quoted in Peck and Budge (1987, p. 172). 

12 Quoted in Working (1963, p.18). 

13 It is fascinating to observe the similarity of the current public debate about speculation and the 

one that followed the mid-70s commodity boom. For instance, Labys and Thomas (1975, p. 

287) motivate their paper with words that could have been written in 2008 instead of 1975, “This 

paper analyses the instability of primary commodity prices during the recent period of economic 
28

upheaval, and determines the extent to which this instability was amplified by the substantial 

increase in futures speculation which also occurred. Of particular interest is the degree to which 

this speculation rose and fell with the switch of speculative funds away from traditional asset 

placements and towards commodity futures contracts.” 

14 The origin of the word “scapegoat” is of more than passing interesting in the present context. 

In ancient Israel, the high priest confessed all the sins of the children of Israel on the Day of 

Atonement over the head of a live goat. As a symbol of their sins, the goat was then sent into the 

wilderness to perish. 
29

Table 1. Speculative and Hedging Positions (number of contracts) 

in Agricultural Futures Markets, First Quarter of 2006 and 2008 

Market HL HS SL SS 

Corn 

2006 328,362 654,461 558,600 208,043 

2008 598,790 1,179,932 792,368 182,291 

Change 270,428 525,471 233,768 -25,752 

Soybeans 

2006 126,832 192,218 183,105 107,221 

2008 175,973 440,793 351,379 74,844 

Change 49,141 248,575 168,274 -32,377 

Soybean Oil 

2006 66,636 124,134 92,515 35,599 

2008 121,196 228,515 128,546 25,844 

Change 54,560 104,381 36,032 -9,755 

CBOT Wheat 

2006 57,942 213,278 251,926 92,148 

2008 70,084 240,864 300,880 121,578 

Change 12,141 27,585 48,954 29,430 

KCBT Wheat 

2006 43,993 110,601 80,158 13,560 

2008 46,459 96,556 67,827 15,767 

Change 2,466 -14,045 -12,330 2,207 

Cotton 

2006 41,582 108,085 86,777 21,824 

2008 107,826 296,434 200,773 18,918 

Change 66,244 188,349 113,995 -2,906 

Live Cattle 

2006 54,549 128,951 129,786 45,305 

2008 34,970 144,549 198,211 80,303 

Change -19,579 15,599 68,425 34,998 

Feeder Cattle 

2006 10,707 17,725 20,769 10,632 

2008 6,310 13,435 28,284 18,111 

Change -4,397 -4,290 7,515 7,479 

Lean Hogs 

2006 15,949 65,438 93,522 40,036 

2008 36,825 113,971 149,415 69,055 

Change 20,876 48,533 55,893 29,019 

Notes: HL = Hedging, Long; HS = Hedging, Short; SL = Speculating, 

Long; SS = Speculating, Short. The data reflect average positions in the 

first calendar quarter of 2006 and 2008, respectively. Open interest is 

aggregated across futures and options, with options open interest deltaadjusted to a futures equivalent basis. 

Source: Sanders, Irwin, and Merrin (2008a) 
30

Table 2. Change in Commodity Prices, January 3, 2006—April 15, 2008 

Commodity January 2006 April 2008 Change 

Panel A. Futures Markets 

Included in Popular Indexes 

 Corn $2.20/bu. $6.06/bu. 175% 

 Soybeans $6.28/bu. $13.80/bu. 120% 

 Soybean Oil 22.96¢/lb. 62.52¢/lb. 172% 

 CBOT Wheat $3.46/bu. $8.96/bu. 159% 

 KCBOT Wheat $3.90/bu. $9.50/bu. 136% 

 Cotton 55.24¢/lb. 75.23¢/lb. 36% 

 Live Cattle $96.37/cwt. $91.57/cwt. -5% 

 Feeder Cattle $114.00/cwt. $103.95/cwt. -9% 

 Lean Hogs $64.65/cwt. $71.65/cwt. 11% 

 

Panel B. Futures Markets not 

Included in Popular Indexes 

 Rough Rice $8.27/lb. $22.17/lb. 168% 

 Fluid Milk $12.65/cwt. $17.29/cwt. 37% 

 

Panel C. No Futures Markets 

 Apples Fresh Use $0.26/lb. $0.41/lb. 58% 

 Edible Beans $19.30/cwt. $34.40/cwt. 78% 

 

Notes: All prices refer to the relevant nearby futures price except apples and edible 

beans, which are monthly prices received by farmers. 
31

Table 3. Granger Causality Test Results for CFTC Trader Categories, 

Positions Do Not Lead Returns, 1995-2006. 

. 

P-values for Hypothesis Test:βj=0, ∀j

Market Commercials Non-Commercials Non-Reporting 

Wheat CBOT 0.01 0.18 0.54 

Wheat KCBOT 0.03 0.24 0.71 

Wheat MGE 0.63 0.15 0.76 

Corn 0.35 0.79 0.33 

Soybeans 0.83 0.05 0.78 

Soybean Oil 0.24 0.30 0.94 

Soybean Meal 0.70 0.93 0.61 

Lean Hogs 0.05 0.34 0.08 

Live Cattle 0.75 0.83 0.48 

Feeder Cattle 0.10 0.16 0.23 

Notes: R is the weekly return for nearby futures in the given market and PNL is the 

net long position of the trader group in percentage terms. 

Source: Sanders, Irwin, and Merrin (2008b) 

∑ ∑ = =

= + − + − +

m

i

n

j

Rt t iRt i jPNLt j t

1 1

α γ β ε
32

Figure 1. Selected Examples of the Movement of Monthly Commodity Prices, January 

2000—December 2008 

Panel C: Monthly Reuters Jeffries/CRB Commodity 

Price Index

100

200

300

400

500

Jan-00 Jan-01 Jan-02 Jan-03 Jan-04 Jan-05 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jan-08

Index (Jan. 1982 = 100)

Panel A: Monthly Average Price of Crude Oil, 

Cushing, OK

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Jan-00 Jan-01 Jan-02 Jan-03 Jan-04 Jan-05 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jan-08

Crude Oil Price ($/bbl.)

Panel B: Monthly Farm Price of Corn in Illinois

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

Jan-00 Jan-01 Jan-02 Jan-03 Jan-04 Jan-05 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jan-08

Price ($/bu.)
33

 

 

Note: Total open interest is aggregated across futures and options markets, 

with options open interest delta-adjusted to a futures equivalent basis. 

Source: Sanders, Irwin, and Merrin (2008a) 

Figure 2. Proportion of Open Interest Held by Commodity Index Traders (CITs) in Grain 

and Livestock Futures Markets, January 2006—June 2008

Panel A: Grains

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Jan-06Mar-06

May-06

Jul-06

Sep-06

Nov-06

Jan-07Mar-07

May-07

Jul-07

Sep-07

Nov-07

Jan-08Mar-08

CIT/Total OI

Wheat

Soybeans

Corn

Panel B: Livestock

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Jan-06Mar-06

May-06

Jul-06

Sep-06

Nov-06

Jan-07Mar-07

May-07

Jul-07

Sep-07

Nov-07

Jan-08Mar-08

CIT/Total OI

Feeder Cattle

Live Cattle

Lean Hogs
34

Figure 3. Theoretical Impact of a Price Bubble in a Storable Commodity Market 

PE 

PB 

Inventory 

 Increase 

Q

S

D