This Bloomberg piece reports a growing sentiment among energy traders that further price declines are likely because, as one analyst described it, "commodities have fallen out of fashion with investors." Nate Hagens over at The Oil Drum reports here that Ospraie, a $4 billion commodities hedge fund run by Lehman Brothers, lost 26% of its value in August alone and is closing its doors. His long post also describes the "animal spirits" of the energy futures markets and how relatively cheap it is for investors to take positions that dwarf the quantity of underlying commodities to which the futures contracts nominally relate. If several big investors fail, or otherwise greatly reduce their exposure to energy futures, it may become as hard to see a bottom for crude oil prices as it was to see a top two months ago.