Federal regulators can proceed with a lawsuit against Kraft Foods alleging the company manipulated wheat prices. A Judge last week gave the go-ahead to a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The lawsuit alleges Kraft used its financial heft to illegally drive down wheat prices in 2011, according to the Chicago Tribune. In a 47-page opinion, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey rejected Kraft's attempt to have the lawsuit tossed, ruling that the CFTC's allegations were "sufficient to allege that Kraft intended to manipulate the wheat markets.” The CFTC alleged this summer that Kraft made $5.4 million in profit in late 2011 when it helped tank the cash price of wheat near its Toledo, Ohio, flour mill by purchasing far more futures contracts for wheat than it ever could have used. Kraft's purchase of $90 million in wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade represented a six-month supply of wheat — far more than the two months inventory Kraft typically aimed to keep, according to the CFTC, who says the move by Kraft sent wheat prices lower.
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