In a single year, the price of a barrel of oil doubled from $69 to almost $150.

Hitting the gas station became a thing of dread.

How much will it cost to fill up the car this week?

Is another price hike going to eat into the grocery money?

Americans began driving as little as possible in the summer of 2008, canceling vacations, especially road trips.

When oil prices peaked in early July with the national average reaching $4.11 a gallon, who could have guessed that only four months later, US gas prices would drop to $1.72 a gallon?

This wild ride had little to do with supply and demand, but was a result of a new breed of greed, financial speculators.

These villain investors manipulated oil contracts with frequent, heavy trading in the high stakes oil market.

They gambled on oil just to keep the market jumping.

Up or down, whichever way the market surged, they raked in giant profits.

Experts say that between 60 and 70% of all oil contracts in the wholesale market are held by speculators, and they may not be who you think.

Exploiting the public's oil dependencies are institutional investors like the State of California Pension Fund and the Harvard Endowment, as well as old line Wall Street firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

They can get away with it because the current system allows it, but that has to change.

Financial markets need strong rules and serious oversight.

The federal government must crack down on anti-competitive practices by oil companies and investment firms.

Officials must regulate energy trading exchanges.

Contrary to what has been said for the past eight years, regulation is not a dirty word.

Letting institutions gamble with our homes, our jobs, our savings, our futures?

Now that is really nasty.

Get the facts.

Take action. www.citizen.org