Gold firmed today, Thursday, as weakness in the dollar prompted interest in the precious metal as a currency hedge, with some physical demand after the previous session’s fall also supported prices.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has launched a witch hunt to slake the blood-thirst of Congresscritters and their constituents looking for someone to blame for high oil prices.

In the energy market Thursday, crude for July delivery retreated, closing at $126.62/barrel, down $4.41. June reformulated gasoline lost 5 cents, to $3.40/gallon.

Congress has threatened to take action against speculative commodities traders, as food and energy prices break fresh records.

A desperate Democratic Senator, Claire McCaskill, warned during a Senate hearing on commodities speculators that “the American people are about to take out pitchforks” because of the cost of groceries and gasoline.

McCaskill then told an official from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission: “If you don’t do something, Congress will,” according to a report in the LA Times.

Of course, it doesn’t appear to have struck the outraged Senator to consider mere market forces such as supply and demand or, in the case of oil prices, increased demand from emerging markets and decreased supply because of bad weather or geopolitical events.

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