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People who trade commodities provide a valuable service in the market.
The person you guys call a "speculator" may be giving cash today for oil producers delivering oil at a future date. So this "speculator is taking a calculated risk while reducing the risk for the other party. The process brings some order and some predictability for those who can not afford or don't want to take the risk.
If the "speculator" buys June oil futures at $107/barrel and the price drops to $90/barrel, that "speculator lost $17/barrel but the seller made $17/barrel. People often blame the "speculator" for delivering the truth about a market, i.e. - political/military risk, capacity disruption risk, currency fluctuations risk, regulatory risk, supply/demand risks, ROIC risk, leverage or finance risk...
Why don't people get excited about "speculators" in pork futures? I think it is because the pork market is not as "glamorous" as oil and certainly not as politically charged.
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"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."
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