TechFlow News, April 9: According to Reuters, several hours before the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement was announced, investors collectively sold 8,600 contracts of Brent and WTI crude oil futures at 19:45 GMT on Tuesday, amounting to approximately $950 million in short positions. Later that evening at 22:30 GMT, U.S. President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran, triggering an immediate ~15% plunge in crude oil futures prices—dropping below $100 per barrel.
Notably, such large-volume trades are typically distributed across multiple exchanges to avoid price impact; however, this single, concentrated execution post-settlement is highly unusual. This pattern mirrors a similar trade executed on March 23, when investors sold roughly $500 million worth of crude oil futures just 15 minutes before President Trump announced the postponement of strikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure—after which oil prices also plunged 15%.
In response, Congressman Ritchie Torres has written to both the SEC and the CFTC urging investigations into these “suspicious” trades.
