ú is the criticism ir? ú ú >> no, absolutelynot. ú and i take strong exception witú mr. cramer comments. ú firsof all, nobody isalking ú about manipulation of t ú rket. what people ve expressed ú concern about is quote unque, excessive speculation, not manipulation. and the speculation concerns really have to do with non-commercial hedgers and their involvement in the market. that's an area where these markets clearly function for the purpose of price discovery and to allow commercial hedgers to hedge energy market risk. >> but craig, i mean, you say the focus is on the non-commercial traders. there has been an explosion in non-commercial traders. we saw all the hot money move to the nymex at the time that i was down there reporting. i mean, you just saw an explosion of hedge funds coming into this market because there was money to be made. and at the same time we saw price explode and then collapse. and i think the problem is that a lot of americans feel like they pay the price for that at the gas pump and now they want someone to blame. >> yeah, no, i understand, but the reality is that those market prices are being driven by ma o macroeconomic factors and supply and demand factors -- >> in part. only in part. >> if you look at all the economic analysis that's bn úthe vernment's ow ú analysis, it's clear thait's not being affected by the futures market, it's being affected by fundamental supply and demand characteristics. >> but craig, when you see oil go from 147 in july down to almost $30 a barrel, i mean, demand for oil hasn't fallen to 1/5 of what it was back last july. there has to be -- the moves are so exaggerated based on how much demand has shifted there's got to be something elsen the mix, don't you think? >> i don't tnk so. i ink if you look athe vt ú majority of energy market research and anasis what you see , you know, conrn over ú thglobal recsion, lessened demand for energy as a consequence of that, and these fundamental factors. again, if you look at the empirical evence and if you look at the economic analysis, nothing supports the idea that speculators are driving prices in futures markets. >> rick, do you agree with that? >> well, i like to keep things simple. you know, craig, i've been scouring the floor looking at trading ca