Onions are an important ingredient in the history of commodity speculation. In 1958, after American growers moaned that speculators were behind seesawing prices, legislation banned trading in onion futures. Now critics are stewing over speculators again, thanks to rising prices in everything from oil to metals and grains. Such is the turmoil speculators are believed to cause that Nicolas Sarkozy may use France's presidency of the G20 to push for rules to curb their activities. Investors have certainly acquired more of a taste for commodities over the past few years. According to Barclays Capital, around $320 billion of institutional and retail money is now devoted to commodities, compared with just $6 billion a decade ago.
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