Oil: Financial Firms, Airlines Face Off in Oil Speculation Debate

As a followup to "Dear CFTC: About those Oil Markets. And: A Stock Tip".
The folks at MarketWatch have really homed in on the oil/airline tango (contango?)/Danse Macabre:

Two of the industries with the most at stake from efforts to curb financial speculation in oil ratcheted up their marketing campaigns this week, with an eye on influencing a raft of new bills in Congress.

The public pressure dovetails with another round of new records reached for crude-oil futures and a growing exasperation among many lawmakers that they must act to reverse climbing prices before leaving for their August recess.

On Friday, a bipartisan group of senators including Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said they introduced the Commodity Speculation Reform Act of 2008. The bill would increase regulation of commodities futures markets by restricting actions of financial investors....

...But there's a worse danger lurking if lawmakers act too hastily, warned one company whose success handling electronic energy contracts has placed it at the center of the oil-speculation controversy....MORE

Also at MarketWatch today:

Airlines in tailspin on new record-high oil

Oil to put a damper on mood at Farnborough