The weakness of the capitalist system

This post points up the weakness of the capitalist system. Under the free enterprise system, prices are supposed to be controlled by supply and demand but this is no longer the case. Today, prices are controlled by speculators who buy commodity futures as a gamble that the price of the commodity will increase, benefiting the speculator with a sizable profit sometime in the future. The other aspect that controls prices are monopolies. As businesses buy up their competition, they assume free reign for establishing the price of the goods they control. In some industries, new innovative businesses are often squashed by the established leaders by subjecting these small but growing enterprises with frivolous lawsuits which exhausts their financial resources. So the deep pocket boys are able to kill off competition by using litigation. The big question is why does the price of gas respond so quickly when there is activity among the speculators, particularly when their bids for the oil futures will not pay out till some time in the future? Why should the prevailing price of oil affect the current price of gasoline at the pump?