More Insider Trading? $600 Million Crude Oil Futures Contracts Dumped Before Trump's Conciliatory Remarks

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Source: Cailian Press

Cailian Press, March 24 — (Editor: Ma Lan) Before the opening of U.S. stocks on Monday, Trump suddenly announced on social media that he would suspend attacks on Iran’s energy facilities for five days and said he had productive talks with Iran. After this statement was released, European and American stock markets immediately rose, international oil prices fell, and precious metals rebounded quickly.

However, when the market suddenly reversed, some warned of insider trading. Between 6:49 and 6:50 a.m. New York time on Monday, approximately 6,200 Brent and WTI crude oil futures contracts changed hands, just 15 minutes before Trump’s statement.

Rough estimates suggest these oil trades had a nominal value of about $580 million. As trading volume in Brent and WTI crude oil surged, futures prices tracking the S&P 500 index also rose rapidly, with trading volume increasing significantly.

Five minutes before Trump announced the halt to the Iran attack, someone went long on $1.5 billion worth of S&P 500 futures and sold $192 million worth of oil futures. The number of such orders during this period was four to six times higher than other orders.

All signs are reminiscent of the previous prediction market before the U.S. raid on Venezuela to arrest President Maduro, where mysterious accounts made precise bets on Maduro’s ousting time and profited, turning about $30,000 into $436,759.61, a 12.4-fold return.

Hedge Funds Are Furious

An American brokerage’s market strategist commented on Monday’s trading, saying it’s currently difficult to prove causality, but people can’t help but wonder who was actively selling futures 15 minutes before Trump’s statement.

Several hedge funds pointed out that this is one of many cases in recent months where large trades were made before the U.S. government officially announced news.

A trader from a large hedge fund said their energy advisor recently noticed several large transactions, which they believed were unusually well-timed. Another portfolio manager said a series of precise large trades left investors quite frustrated.

Traders noted that there was no major data release or Federal Reserve speech at the time, so there was no reason to want to front-run. On a day without significant events, these trades were unusually large. There’s no doubt someone “jumped the gun.”

After Iran’s official statement that no negotiations had taken place with the U.S., U.S. stocks pulled back. The trader further analyzed that false information is being used to manipulate financial and oil markets and to try to escape the quagmire created by the U.S. and Israel.

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Editor: Zhao Siyuan