Good Question About Oil Traders

WSJ -- At Mr. Obama's request, the Justice Department announced Thursday that it has created a task force to investigate the oil and gas markets, a move some Democrats in Congress have advocated. "The attorney general is putting together a team whose job it is to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, and that includes the role of traders and speculators," Mr. Obama said during a town hall event at a renewable energy company in Nevada. "We're going to make sure that nobody's taking advantage of American consumers for their own short-term gains."

WSJ Letter to the Editor from John Malgar -- "The challenge for investigators isn't proving that traders drove up oil prices. The real puzzle is, why did these public enemies suddenly have a change of heart during 2008 and drive prices down?"  

See chart above showing gas prices falling from $4.12 per gallon to $1.61 in 2008.