“Cattleman comes to CFTC” said the headlines when James Newsomejoined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 1998 – and had energymarkets not dealt the CFTC the highest profile scandal in its history in 2001,Newsome’s agricultural roots may have spread further.

But chairing the CFTC through the US energy crisis has instead taken him to oneof the top jobs in energy – president of the New York Mercantile Exchange(Nymex). The cattleman moniker may be lost for a while – nevertheless,Newsome