CFTC Charges Kraft Foods, Mondelez Global With Manipulating Wheat Futures

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday charged Kraft Foods Group Inc. and Mondelez Global LLC with manipulating wheat futures and cash wheat prices. The CFTC says that, in response to high cash wheat prices in summer 2011, the two companies developed and executed in early December 2011 a strategy to buy $90 million of wheat futures they didn't intend on receiving. The companies expected the market would react to their "enormous" long position in futures by lowering cash prices, the CFTC said. They later earned more than $5.4 million in profits, according to the CFTC's complaint. The agency says litigation is continuing against the companies and it is seeking disgorgement and civil monetary penalties.

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