Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

Excessive Speculation in the Wheat Market

Date: July 21, 2009
Time: 2:30pm
Location: Room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building
Agenda:

This hearing was a followup to the June 24th Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ release of a 247-page staff report entitled, “Excessive Speculation in the Wheat Market,” which examined how commodity index traders, in the aggregate, have made such large purchases on the Chicago wheat futures market that they have pushed up futures prices, disrupted the normal relationship between futures prices and cash prices for wheat, and caused farmers, grain elevators, grain processors, and others to experience significant unwarranted costs and price risks. The Subcommittee hearing examined the nature of the problems caused by index trading in the wheat market and possible solutions, including applying standard position limits to index traders instead of exempting them. Witnesses at the hearing included representatives of CFTC, and CME Group, as well as representatives of wheat producers, users, consumers, and index traders.

Member Statements

Senator

Carl

Levin

(D -
 MI)

Senator

Tom

Coburn

(R -
 OK)

Senator

Susan M.

Collins

(R -
 ME)

Senator

Claire

McCaskill,

(D -
 MO)

Witnesses

Panel 1

THE HONORABLE GARY

GENSLER

Chairman

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Panel 2

MR. THOMAS

COYLE

Vice President & General Manager, Chicago & Illinois River Marketing LLC, Nidera, Inc.

Chairman, National Grain and Feed Association

Panel 2

MR. HAYDEN

WANDS

Director of Procurement, Sara Lee Corporation

Chairman, Commodity and Agricultural Policy, American Bakers Association

Panel 2

MR. MARK

COOPER

Director of Research

Consumer Federation of America

Panel 2

MR. STEVEN H.

STRONGIN

Head of the Global Investment Research Division

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Panel 3

MR. CHARLES P.

CAREY

Vice Chairman

CME Group

Related Links

Printed Hearing Record