Oil speculation costing airline, trucking industries $39 billion a year: CFTC Commissioner

Runaway oil speculation is costing the airline and trucking industries $39 billion a year in added expenses, according to new data to be released today.

The airline sector alone could save as much as $9.8 billion annually if Wall Street speculation is curbed, Commissioner Bart Chilton of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is expected to announce today.

The trucking industry stands to save even more, as much as $29.1 billion a year, according to Chilton, who will reveal the data in a speech before a group of traders at the Javits Center.

The staggering numbers are the latest salvo in a bitter battle over the impact oil speculators are having on fuel prices, which sailed past $106 a barrel and are creating $4-a-gallon pump prices.

At the center of the feud is the CFTC, which passed new rules in October to limit certain traders — those who don’t take physical delivery of crude or oil supplies — to 25 percent of the deliverable supply per month.

Groups representing Wall Street are suing to quash those rules, saying the CFTC never crunched the numbers to prove their case. They are pressing a federal judge to halt the rules.

“We’re expecting it at any moment,” Ira Hammerman, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s lead lawyer, said of the decision.

Chilton, meanwhile, is seeking to speed the rules, preferably by June, he told The Post. Otherwise, the rules will have to wait for the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission to define the term “swap,” a process that has already been delayed multiple times.

Today, Chilton is expected to tell the traders that the “speculative premium” on oil adds 56 cents to every gallon of gas, which he calls “an enormous drain” on businesses. Chilton has previously said oil speculation costs every consumer up to $757 extra a year.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Commissioner Bart Chilton, oil speculation, oil speculation, CFTC, Wall Street speculation, Chilton, oil speculators, Ira Hammerman, oil supplies

Nypost.com

Up to D’Antoni to solve Knicks' mystery mix

Mike Vaccaro
Follow Mike on Twitter

DALLAS — We have reached the crossroads of Mike D’Antoni’s time as the Knicks’ head coach, halfway through this seminal four-game road trip. The Knicks are a jigsaw puzzle of both promise and petulance, of hope and haplessness.

They are a jumbled mess and an improvisational curiosity. They are entertainingly frustrating and frustratingly entertaining, they are unpredictable, they are impossible to write off yet impossible to stand behind.

Mostly, after this 95-85 loss to the Mavericks, they are two games south of .500 for the first time in three weeks, entrenched in eighth place in the Eastern Conference when they were supposed to be on a mission for sixth … or higher. They are a roster of moving parts and square pegs trying too often to fit into round holes.

Reuters

MELO OUT: Carmelo Anthony battles Dirk Nowitzki for position as the Knicks lost in Dallas last night.

“We have the talent to compete,” Amar’e Stoudemire said last night. “You can’t say we don’t have enough guys.”

Sometimes, in truth, it seems they have too many guys, too many options and too many combinations. The rule is supposed to be that you can never have too much talent.

D’Antoni is disproving that credo.

“We have to find combinations that work,” he said yesterday, and he’s right, but the fact is all that does is complicate matters further for him. Yesterday, those combinations excluded Carmelo Anthony, who was mostly a spectator as the Knicks turned 66-47 down into 78-77 up.

The depth that has allowed them to come back in three straight games — including a win last week against the Cavaliers — has complicated the Knicks’ most basic mission. We were treated to the very worst of J.R. Smith last night, for example — poor shot selection, worse decision making, and a technical foul thrown in at no extra charge — and yet D’Antoni still played him 14 eventful minutes.

Stoudemire, playing his best game in weeks, capped the Knicks’ comeback with a driving shot with just under five minutes to go, then watched as the Minutemen reserves, one-by-one, were replaced by the starters. The one-point lead quickly reverted to a 10-point deficit. Coincidence? Maybe. Probably. Basketball is a game of cycles and a game of runs.

But that’s where D’Antoni has to adapt and adjust and study how to make all of these parts fit, how to make them functional. It would help if he could have a reasonable facsimile of Anthony at his best, because that version of Melo is the kind of talent you don’t worry about, who can play with anyone else and make them better. The version he got last night — 2-for-12 shooting, little explosion, alternately indifferent and ineffective — only adds to his complications.

The easy part for D’Antoni were those heady first few days of the Jeremy Lin Era, the Knicks decimated by injury and personal tragedy, shrinking the roster and limiting his options. There was the night he famously said of Lin, “I’m gonna ride him like friggin’ Secretariat,” but he could have been talking about his whole eight-man Iron Man rotation.

You can’t live that thin in the NBA, certainly not in the double-quick 66-game version of the schedule this year, but as the Knicks rattled off seven straight wins and clawed their way back to sea level at 15-15, it sure helped add layers to the story. It wasn’t just Lin cobbling together the resolve to keep the season from slipping away night after night. It was everyone.

It’s just that “everyone” was a lot smaller group then.

Now D’Antoni has options. He has talked about an 11-man rotation. He mixes and he matches, and sometimes the results are glorious: an 18-point turnaround late in Sunday’s game at Boston, that remarkable 20-point turnaround last night from 19 down with 19½ minutes left in the game to one up with 4:55 left in the fourth.

And sometimes the results are horrid. The Celtics outscored the Knicks by 27 in one awful stretch Sunday. The Mavs mostly toyed with the Knicks last night for three quarters.

The Knicks can look glorious. They can look ghastly. They can inspire crazy optimism. They can make you want to throw your remote control at the TV.

Maybe they can’t be corralled. Maybe they can’t be fixed. Before time runs out for good in Mike D’Antoni’s hourglass, it would be nice if he could find out for sure.

michael.vaccaro@nypost.com

Knicks, Carmelo Anthony, Mike VaccaroFollow Mike, D’Antoni

Nypost.com

Morgan Stanley ID's broker as 'madam's' potential mystery investor

Investment giant Morgan Stanley has identified one of its brokers as the mystery man who was in talks with accused Upper East Side madam Anna Gristina allegedly about setting up an online prostitution business right before her arrest in Manhattan, sources told The Post today.

The broker, David Walker, works in Morgan Stanley's wealth management unit, sources said.

Prosecutors, without naming Walker, said at Gristina's Feb. 23 arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, "We picked her up yesterday with a Morgan Stanley banker who she counts a close friend and she had been present at his office for a meeting in which she was trying to solicit money to fund what we believe is another business venture on the internet that involves matching up male clients with female prostitutes," court records show.

New York Post \ Natan Dvir

The entrance to Anna Gristina's alleged 78th Street brothel.

UES MADAM HAD MILLIONAIRE CLIENTS, LED LIFE OF SUBURBAN MAN

Assistant District Attorney Charley Linehan also said as that court hearing of the 44-year-old mom-of-four Gristina, "She has business contacts worldwide. . . she counts many 'high wealths' among her friends and clients."

Morgan Stanley declined to comment today, saying the bank is still investigating the allegations that one of its employees had been meeting with Gristina.

The allegations are the second major black eye involving the investment behemoth recently.

Last week, managing director and top banker W. Bryan Jennings was arrested by Darien, Conn., cops on charges that he stabbed a New York City cabby who had driven him to his suburban home Dec. 22, and had made racial slurs against the Egyptian-born hack.

Jennings has gone on indefinite leave from his job, which paid him about $2 million last year.
Nypost.com

SEC sues LI man

A money manager from Old Westbury was accused of running a scheme in which he lied to 24 investors who gave him $74.9 million from 2005 to 2012, telling them the money would be put into hedge funds.

Brian Raymond Callahan used the money to pay back other investors and for personal expenses such as a “multimillion-dollar cooperative unit on Long Island,” the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday in a civil complaint filed in federal court in New York.

“Callahan’s solicitation of investors involved material misrepresentations about the use of their money, the liquidity of their investments and the asset diversification,” the SEC said.

The agency asked for an immediate freeze on his assets. It said Callahan refused to appear for sworn testimony pursuant to a subpoena.

The case was assigned to US District Judge Arthur Spatt in Central Islip. Robert Knuts, a lawyer for Callahan, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Raymond Callahan, Old Westbury, money manager, investors, Callahan, Robert Knuts

Nypost.com

Tomorrow’s Parx Racing Entries

All horses appear in post position order

FIRST-1m&70y; $20,000; cl($5,000); 4up; (f&m)

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

2 Domesticalista(L),122

C Orm

10-12-11

Taylor

30-1

3 HabbyQuatorze(L),122

SBermudz

6-7-6

Carango

10-1

4 Getting Bold(L),122

JHmpshrJr

7-7-3

Dandy

4-1

5 Country Green(L),122

V Molina

2-3-5

Dunn

5-2

6 Done(L),115

ABowman

3-2-5

Neilson

8-5

1 a-Cherry Lady(L),122

G Wales

10-5-6

Day

7-2

1A a-What a Smile(L),122

F Garcia

4-3-5

Day

7-2

a-Coupled

SECOND-1m&70y; $17,000; mdn cl(($10,000); 4up; (f&m)

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 Quiet Liveing(L),115

ABowman

5-7-8

Nicholsn

20-1

2 Border(L),122

E Rivera

7-6-7

Carango

15-1

3 Pioneer Bird(L),122

G Wales

4-5-4

Polanco

12-1

4 Mi Esposa(M),122

S Elliott

6-x-x

Sacco

9-2

5 Kiwi Mistress(L),122

C Orm

5-3-6

Montoya

7-2

6 Five Star Plus(L),115

W Corujo

2-2-2

Wolf

3-1

7 AllPeaceNQuiet(L),122

KMcMngll

6-6-5

Simon

8-1

8 DefrereofFlying(L),122

O Castillo

6-10-x

Coletti

5-2

THIRD-1m&70y; $27,000; cl($16,000); 4up; (f&m)

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 Arcina(L),118

K Frey

7-3-4

Reid

9-2

2 EmprssHtshpst(L),118

A Arroyo

3-5-2

Wells

3-1

3 Billysingssinatr(L),116

A Castillo

1-2-8

Abrams

5-1

4 Broad Outline(L),118

F Boyce

5-4-1

Small

2-1

5 Face ofanAngel(L),114

J Bisono

5-6-1

Estrada

10-1

6 Too Funny(L),113

K Pellot

1-1-2

Hedus

10-1

7 Quinta(L),107

R Richard

4-1-6

Wlhel-S

12-1

FOURTH-6f; $30,000; str alw; 4up

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 FearlessCowby(L),117

THmmngs

4-4-1

Lauro

12-1

2 Pluracity(L),122

RAlvardJr

1-1-3

GPreciad

5-2

3 RoughRoadAhd(L),117

F Garcia

2-1-5

Auwarter

7-2

4 Hadrian'sImage(L),119

A Arroyo

1-2-1

GPreciad

2-1

5 Bavaria(L),119

RMontanz

1-6-3

Ryerson

10-1

6 NorthpointCsts(L),110

ABowman

4-3-6

Nicholsn

9-2

7 RaisedforSpeed(L),117

V Molina

3-2-6

Mick

10-1

FIFTH-6f; $23,000; cl($7,500); 4up; (f&m)

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 Princessofthlnd(L),118

RAlvardJr

4-8-5

Velzqez

10-1

2 Marino'sPromis(L),120

J Bisono

1-3-2

Mosco

6-1

3 After Words(L),118

S Uske

9-1-2

Tammar

12-1

4 Freezercrowd(L),108

LVillanuev

6-4-2

Neilson

6-1

5 Impadoodle(L),118

JHmpshrJr

3-3-4

Dandy

5-2

6 Abbaye(L),115

K Pellot

7-1-2

Woodhse

8-1

7 Prttyhpphphtty(L),118

J Flores

4-1-5

Demasi

4-1

8 LaddertotheMn(L),118

L Rivera,Jr

2-4-5

Noble

9-2

SIXTH-1m; $45,000; mdn spcl wt; 4up

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 MineshaftTavrn(L),114

ARodriguz

8-x-x

Houghtn

30-1

2 Joey Whispers(L),123

JHmpshrJr

2-3-3

McBrney

5-2

3 Quiet and Foxy(L),123

D Whitney

3-4-5

Houghton

6-1

4 Sinatr'srzdbrw(L),123

RMontanz

2-3-2

Mullin

5-1

5 Valentinos Gold(L),123

A Arroyo

3-4-2

Serey

9-2

6 Deputy Dillon(L),116

R Richard

3-x-x

Wlhel-S

20-1

7 OoohsandAahs(L),123

FPnnngtn

x-x-x

A Dutrow

4-1

8 PlymouthSquar(L),123

S Elliott

6-2-2

Servis

3-1

SEVENTH-1m&70y; $30,000; str alw; 4up

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 Disco Rhythm(L),118

RMontanz

4-3-4

Allard

12-1

2 Layers(L),120

KCarmoch

1-5-2

Dotolo

7-2

3 SerendipperMn(L),111

J Ortiz

6-1-4

Servis

8-1

4 Eze Does It(L),120

K Frey

1-3-2

Catalan

10-1

5 Silver Prado(L),118

N Petro

3-5-1

Petro

8-1

6 Padre Ed(L),118

S Uske

4-2-2

Tammar

12-1

7 PerfectGentlmn(L),118

S Elliott

1-6-3

Nunley

8-1

8 My Nicky(L),120

A Arroyo

2-3-1

Calderon

9-2

9 He Belongs(L),118

J Flores

6-1-5

Casey

20-1

10 Dan's My Man(L),118

J Bisono

2-1-3

Guerrero

5-2

EIGHTH-6 1/2f; $25,000; cl($12,500-); 4up

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 Beaureal(L),118

J Flores

2-3-1

GPreciad

9-2

2 Two Brash(L),118

RAlvardJr

3-2-4

Parker

7-2

3 Harlequin Sky(L),118

V Molina

2-5-3

Curry

12-1

4 Threeo'ClckRck(L),120

F Boyce

1-5-3

Allard

10-1

5 Score the Gold(L),120

J Bisono

1-2-4

Maymo

6-1

6 Dad's LittleMan(L),120

L Flores

6-1-5

Landicini

8-1

7 Calvin's Dream(L),113

K Pellot

4-1-4

LeBarron

5-2

8 Tyzach(L),118

K Frey

5-6-5

Reid

5-1

NINTH-1m&70y; $47,000; alw; 4up; (f&m)

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

2 Queen's Rule(L),117

J Bracho

5-3-1

Bracho

12-1

3 My Sweet Emily(L),119

RAlvardJr

3-1-3

GPreciad

4-1

4 Cupolatte(L),117

K Frey

3-2-1

Zulueta

9-2

1 a-Be My Candy(L),117

KCarmoch

5-5-3

Demasi

5-2

5 Pure Strike(L),117

FPnnngtn

4-6-2

Doran

6-1

6 For Real Too(L),117

A Arroyo

6-1-1

Levine

10-1

1A a-Red for Certain ,117

KCarmoch

1-4-4

Demasi

5-2

7 Lightshaft(L),117

J Bisono

1-2-2

Servis

3-1

a-Coupled

TENTH-6f; $45,000; mdn spcl wt; 3YO

PN Horse, Wt.

Jockey

Last 3

Trainer

Odds

1 Came Back(L),121

V Molina

x-x-x

Goldberg

8-1

2 Edge of Glory(L),121

S Russell

3-4-x

Shuman

5-1

3 Rovin Man(M),121

RAlvardJr

6-x-x

GPreciad

8-1

4 MakerofthCrwn(L),121

M Rispoli

5-6-5

Rispoli

20-1

5 Quiet Rally ,121

JHmpshrJr

x-x-x

Farro

12-1

6 Nofinancingndd(L),121

KCarmoch

7-2-3

Trombett

4-1

7 Arrogant Officer ,121

J Nguyen

7-3-4

Noble

20-1

8 Shamrock Ruler(L),121

O Castillo

3-2-x

Madrigal

6-1

9 Greyfriars(L),121

RMontanz

x-x-x

Zulueta

10-1

10 License to Cary ,121

FPnnngtn

x-x-x

Pollara

12-1

11 Jake N Elwood(L),121

K Frey

2-x-x

Petro

5-2

12 Western Ice ,121

E Rivera

6-x-x

DeSncts

20-1

PN Horse, PN Horse, 4upPN Horse

Nypost.com

Curtis questions Lincoln's addition of Oberg

Lincoln may have solved the gaping hole up front left by the suspension of forward Tafari Whittingham with the recent addition of sophomore Tighe Oberg. But Curtis, the Railsplitters opponent in Sunday’s PSAL Class AA quarterfinal, wants to know where exactly the 6-foot-8 forward came from and why and how he was added so late to the roster.

Oberg, a transfer from Islip on Long Island, made his Lincoln debut in Tuesday’s 82-27 rout of Beach Channel and scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds. He was added to the roster earlier that day – more than three weeks after the PSAL allows such a move to be made.

Department of Education spokesperson Margie Feinberg said Oberg was made eligible because it was an “administrative error,” that he was practicing with the team all year and as a result was a member of the team.

“In this case, Lincoln never added him to the roster even though evidence showed he had been on the team. It was an administrative error and the student is eligible to play,” Feinberg said in a statement.

Curtis athletic director Eric Ritzer said the Staten Island school filed a complaint with the PSAL, but didn’t receive a satisfactory response for its inquiry. They were simply told he was eligible to play. Principal Aurelia Curtis sent an email to NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott seeking further explanation and investigation.

Ritzer said he, as the school’s athletic director, is unable to physically add players to the roster after Jan. 31 – as 6.3 of Rules and Regulations on the PSAL web site states – so he wanted to know how exactly Lincoln was able to do it. Additionally, the rule says, “a student athlete cannot practice unless he is listed on the official roster (active or inactive).”

“There’s something that doesn’t smell right,” Ritzer said. “Rosters open from the middle-to-end of October and they don’t put the kid on until the end of February. That’s ridiculous. That, to me, doesn’t make sense.”

Earlier in the week, Lincoln coach Dwayne (Tiny) Morton said Oberg “is a low post option we can definitely use right now,” referring to Whittingham’s three-game suspension for his role in an altercation in a game against South Shore Jan. 31. The PSAL upheld the suspension on Friday after Whittingham’s appeal, Feinberg said. Morton declined to comment on the matter when reached Friday. Lincoln athletic director Renan Ebeid didn’t return messages seeking comment.

Oberg’s father Ted, the girls basketball coach at Long Island power St. John the Baptist, said his son transferred to Lincoln in the fall when he moved in with him following a solid summer on the AAU circuit with the Juice All-Stars, which is comprised mostly of Lincoln players. The Brooklyn resident said his son was kept off the roster at the outset because he was academically ineligible, the result of credits not transferring over properly from West Islip.

“He busted his rear end in the classroom, he got a 92 on his history Regents, he did what he was supposed to do to become eligible, and now because of an administrative error, are you gonna say he can’t play? Is that what Curtis wants?” Ted Oberg said. “You don’t penalize a kid for an adult’s mistake.”

Ritzer said Curtis isn’t worried about Sunday’s result, win or lose, when it comes to its complaints.

“My only goal here is what’s fair,” he said. “That’s the only thing I’m interested in.”

zbraziller@nypost.com

Tighe Oberg, PSAL, Tafari Whittingham, Aurelia Curtis, Margie Feinberg, administrative error, administrative error, Ted Oberg, athletic director, Lincoln players, Curtis, Eric Ritzer, NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, Whittingham

Nypost.com

Yelling for yelp!

Wall Street let out a collective Yelp yesterday.

The crowd-sourced review site saw its shares surge almost 64 percent in its public debut, offering investors a flicker of the frenzy to come from Facebook’s much-hyped initial public offering.

Yelp’s IPO met all the requirements needed for a big first-day pop. First, the company only floated about 12 percent of its stock, pushing up demand with scarcity. Then the underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs, set the share price at $15, above the original $12 to $14 range. From there, shares opened at $22 and closed up even higher, at $24.58.

“It was a strong sign for the short term,” said David Menlow of IPO Financial. “Initially, Yelp has a nice footprint in the IPO space.”

While the company had an enviable opening compared to some other recent IPOs in the tech sector, its business model faces many of the same challenges weighing on stocks of other Silicon Valley upstarts.

Yelp, run by CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, has never turned a profit since its start in 2004, and its losses are growing along with its revenue. Last year, it generated $83 million in sales, but posted a loss of $17 million.

Still, the timing of the IPO, so close to Facebook’s expected offering in May, helped boost investor interest. Zynga and Groupon had no such halo effect when they went public last year, and their share prices struggled to maintain their stellar openings as investors focused on the negatives of their businesses.

Groupon, after rising about 30 percent in its trading debut, was back near its IPO price of $20 within days. Zynga actually finished its first day lower than its IPO price of $10.

Some of the investor excitement for Yelp was the product of the demand for Facebook shares, Menlow said. Investors who expected a hard time securing big chunks of Facebook stock were settling for Yelp as a proxy, he said.

After yesterday’s surge, Yelp is now valued at a whopping $1.5 billion. Stoppelman also saw his personal wealth skyrocket, with his 11 percent stake worth $150 million.

Yelp’s valuation is considered high at 18 times its revenue. Analysts have warned that the latest crop of tech companies to go public are trading at exorbitant levels.

For instance, LinkedIn, trading at 17 times its revenue, is valued at $8.8 billion. The social networking company for professionals was a pioneer in the Web 2.0 IPO parade, debuting in May to a more than 100 percent pop.

Still, LinkedIn has mostly defied skeptics and short traders anticipating a hard fall for the stock.

Facebook is set to take the valuation title in an IPO that could set the company’s worth above $100 billion. Analysts expect investor demand reminiscent of the 1990s dot.com bubble.

If Yelp is any indication, Facebook shares are likely to pop at the outset, sending the company to a market cap that would rival Silicon Valley’s top companies, Menlow said.

gsloane@nypost.com

Facebook, Yelp, David Menlow, Goldman Sachs, IPO price, public debut, Silicon Valley, Jeremy Stoppelman

Nypost.com