Before Trump Announces Ceasefire, $950 Million Crude Oil Short Enters Precisely, Lawmaker Urges Regulatory Investigation

Reuters reported on April 9 that unusual trading activity hit the oil market hours before U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal with Iran. At 7:45 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on Tuesday—during the post-settlement lull—investors dumped a combined 8,600 lots of Brent and WTI futures, with a total notional value of roughly $950 million. Less than three hours later, Trump formally declared a two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Oil futures opened sharply lower on Wednesday, falling ~15% and dropping below the $100 mark. This allowed the “precision sniper” short positions to net massive profits in just hours. This wasn’t an isolated case: On March 23, an unusual $500 million short position emerged 15 minutes before Trump announced he was delaying a strike on Iranian energy facilities. Oil prices slid 15% afterward. Data shows daily crude trading volume has doubled to the million-lot level since U.S.-Iran tensions escalated. U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres has formally written to the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and CFTC (U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission) to urge an investigation into these “suspicious” trades. Torres noted the trades were highly directional in speed, scale and structure, and called for verification of the involved accounts. To date, CME Group and the SEC have declined to comment. The CFTC previously stated it was “monitoring” market anomalies.