With trading strategies that are based on complex mathematical equations, or that are driven by sophisticated “black-box” computer programs, managed-futures programs are usually able to remove human emotion from the investment equation – a reality that certainly helped them post strong returns last year, even as the volatile U.S. stock market whipsawed investors out of about $7 trillion in shareholder wealth.

OPEC wants transparency and the White House is on the verge of giving it to them. The result is the virtual destruction of speculation in the oil markets. But the upside is that oil companies will have a clearer gauge of supply and demand. And what’s good news for the oil market is good news for major oil companies. Here’s what you need to know:

You know it’s a real financial crisis when capitalists are being told what to do by a bunch of socialists and communists. But these are the times we live in. Ironic and moronic.

The lastest oil advance was what I call a “melt-up.”

The bull market in oil comes down to just two simple numbers: The world can’t produce more than 85 million barrels of oil per day. The world wants 87 million barrels of oil per day.

I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot more of this as the worldwide commodities boom goes on. A day after a run on rice in California prompted Costco and other chains to limit buyers to only a bag or two at a time.

It was Sunday night, and I was sitting down to my usual routine of going through charts and e-mails to prepare for the next day. I had barely been logged on for two minutes when I got an e-mail alert – a news blurb that J.P. Morgan (JPM) was buying Bear Stearns (BSC) for $2 per share. BSC’s stock had closed at $30 on Friday. What a deal!