Serious questions were raised about market manipulation as President Donald Trump and his administration came under scrutiny over the status of the ongoing Iran war amid a chaotic rise and fall of oil prices.
Axios released a report early Wednesday that the United States was moving closer to an end of the Iran war — that's when people started to notice suspicious activity in the market.
The Kobeissi Letter challenged the timeline of incidents in a post on X.
"According to our analysis, ~$920 million worth of crude oil shorts were taken 70 minutes before an Axios report claimed the US and Iran were near a '14-point' deal to end the war," according to The Kobeissi Letter. "At 3:40 AM ET today, nearly 10,000 contracts worth of crude oil shorts were taken without any major news. This is equivalent to ~$920 million in notional value, an unusually large trade for 3:40 AM ET. At 4:50 AM ET, just 70 minutes later, Axios reported that the US is 'close' to a 'memorandum of understanding' to end the Iran War. By 7:00 AM ET, oil prices had fallen over -12% with these crude oil shorts gaining approximately +$125 million. Minutes later, Iran launched the 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' and oil prices surged +8%. What just happened?"
Experts and lawmakers reacted to the volatile market.
"Record levels of fraud," Michael Bento, owner of Valois Capital Management, LLC, wrote on X.
"The most corrupt war in US history. Maybe in world history," Phillips O'Brien, historian and professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, wrote on X.
"Shocker," Rick Wilson, former Republican strategist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, wrote on X.
"This has to stop. Lives on the line so they can insider trade!" Jessica Tarlov, Fox News co-host and podcast co-host, wrote on X.
"$900M in oil shorts right before the Axios article. I’ve found at least another $100M in the same kind of trades onchain. Meaning multiple insiders knew about the article forthcoming and traded on it," Adam Cochran, professor, policy consultant and journalist, wrote on X.
"When is everyone going to start realizing that the manic on again off again war/peace rhetoric is really just insider trading? And sprinkle in some murder. Only a select few in the top tax bracket are benefiting from this, and the majority of you ain’t in it," former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote on X.
"WTF!" Independent journalist and former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta wrote on X.