Congress eyes market impact of speculators: Vilsack

(VILSACK, TRADING, MONDAY, PRICES, THERE, ABOUT, MARKET)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Congress is eyeing ways to make sure speculative trading helps commodity markets rather than distorting pricing signals, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a Reuters Television interview Monday.
"There are concerns," Vilsack said, noting he has spoken about the issue with Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, about the issue.
"I suspect that there will probably be an effort to make sure when there is trading that takes place on the market, that it`s trading that actually assists the market, doesn`t hurt the market, creates a robust trading scheme so that we get a good pricing signal," Vilsack said.
Grain futures markets are bracing for more government regulation after a U.S. Senate probe blamed index funds for overinflating wheat prices last year.
Vilsack was slated to tour the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday with executives from parent company CME Group Inc, the world`s largest derivatives exchange, which has said speculators were not responsible for price volatility.
Food prices soared to record levels last year, causing riots and hoarding in some countries.
While prices have come down from the spike, they remain at historically high levels, especially in developing countries.
Vilsack was also slated to speak to about the Obama administration`s approach to global food security on Monday.
The Obama administration has said it will ask Congress to double agricultural development aid to $1 billion by 2010.
"It is part of national security, it is part of foreign policy, it`s part of our trade policy. It`s part of our economic recovery efforts," Vilsack said.
The United Nations` World Food Program has pleaded with rich nations to maintain food aid as more than a billion people are chronically hungry at a time when global food aid is at a 20-year low.
Original article

Obama opposes energy bill trade penalties: reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday called a House-passed climate change bill "an extraordinary first step," but spoke out against a provision that would impose trade penalties on countries that fail to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"At a time when the economy worldwide is still deep in recession and we`ve seen a significant drop in global trade, I think we have to be very careful about sending any protectionist signals," Obama said in an Oval Office interview reported by The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.
"I think there may be other ways of doing it than with a tariff approach," Obama said.
The Democratic-controlled House on Friday passed the climate change bill that would require large U.S. companies, including utilities and manufacturers to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases associated with global warming by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels.
A top priority for Obama, the measure was approved by a 219-212 vote, with only eight Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill. Republicans said the bill would neither effectively help the environment nor improve an economy reeling from a deep recession.
Obama dismissed the Republican criticisms and castigated opponents for "lying" about cost projections and "scaring the bejeezus" out of voters, the Los Angeles Times said.
Obama also accused Republicans of being stuck in a 1990s-era debate on energy when the American people "have moved forward" with concerns about climate change and hope for renewable power, the newspaper said.
Obama predicted similar energy legislation faced a difficult path through the Senate and would require additional compromises to win enough votes for passage, The New York Times reported. The article said Obama did not set a timetable for Senate action but called on the leadership to "seize the day."
An aide said Obama plans to announce new energy-saving standards for light bulbs this week to keep the focus on energy issues, the newspaper said.
(Reporting by Joanne Allen)
Original article

U.S. mulls putting North Korea back on terror list

By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is looking into putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism in response to its nuclear test last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview on Sunday.
"We're going to look at it. There's a process for it. Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism," she said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
Asked whether she had evidence of the North's support for international terrorism, Clinton said: "We're just beginning to look at it. I don't have an answer for you right now."
The United States removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist in October in a bid to revive faltering six-nation denuclearization talks that have completely broken down.
The impoverished Communist-ruled Asian nation was taken off the list after agreeing to a series of verification measures at its nuclear facilities. It has been condemned internationally since its defiant May 25 nuclear test.
"Obviously they were taken off of the list for a purpose, and that purpose is being thwarted by their actions," Clinton said.
Coming off the list meant North Korea could better tap into international finance and see some trade sanctions lifted -- benefits that would be reversed, although other sanctions have remained as a result of its first nuclear test in 2006.
SUPPORT FROM RUSSIA AND CHINA
Clinton said she expected a strong sanctions resolution against North Korea to emerge from the U.N. Security Council, with the backing of China and Russia, which previously balked at such measures and hold veto powers on the council.
"I think what is going somewhere is additional sanctions in the United Nations -- arms embargo, other measures taken against North Korea with the full support of China and Russia," she said in reference to the ongoing U.N. deliberations.
Clinton said the United States would work hard to cut off the flow of money to North Korea.
"If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we'll spark an arms race in Northeast Asia. I don't think anybody wants to see that," she said.
"And so part of what we're doing is again, sharing with other countries our calculus of the risks and the dangers that would lie ahead if we don't take very strong action."
Renewed tensions over North Korea's nuclear program coincide with the trial in recent days of two U.S. female journalists held in Pyongyang.
Analysts say the pair, who were working for the Current TV network co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, have become bargaining chips in negotiations with the United States. Continued...
Source: Reuters