re: Price Volatility
Ron: Yes, speculators do enhance volatility at the extremes - the highs AND and the lows. Of course, we only hate speculators at the highs. But over time, the fundamental price driver is supply and demand. As I said in the article, there is a decent body of technical research out there on the influence of speculators, if you really want to dive into it (but it's very technical).