oil futures

A former oil futures broker engineered a jump in the price of oil a year ago and cost his firm millions after a weekend of heavy drinking.

The trader had just returned from a liquor-soaked golf weekend with colleagues in June of last year when he sat down in front of his laptop at his home east of London and started to place bets.

Precious metals were mixed on the week, moving narrowly from last week's soaring prices. For the week in London, gold and silver edged slightly lower while platinum inched higher.

In New York futures, gold and platinum climbed several dollars while silver ended down nearly 30 cents.

In other markets on Friday, New York oil futures gained for a seventh straight day and closed to a record one-year high.

US stocks declined slightly, but enjoyed weekly gains as did European stocks.

Precious metal prices turned south, ending the week down for the first time since mid-July. In notable declines, gold retreated below $1,000 an ounce, silver slipped toward $16, and platinum dropped under $1,290.

New York oil futures turned higher on Friday but plunged 8% for the week. US and European stocks finished lower as well, with ...

(Rice University) A new policy paper by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy shows a clear increase in the size and influence of noncommercial traders, or "speculators," in the oil futures market since regulations were eased by the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000.

Speculators now constitute about 50 percent of those holding outstanding positions in the US oil futures market.

Investors and oil producers are betting that global demand will roar back, apparently hoping that the recession has already hit bottom.

Over the past two months, investors have plowed billions of dollars into oil futures. OPEC renewed their commitment to stick to their agreed quotas, rather than ship extra oil

Oil futures rose above $60 a barrel, a level not seen since November, after the Department of Energy revealed data suggesting a pick up in consumption.