Is someone making a quick buck off state secrets?
Slate • • business
Key Points:
- President Trump initially threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants with a 48-hour ultimatum, then retracted the threat just before the deadline, coinciding with a massive spike in oil market activity suggesting insider knowledge was used for profit.
- Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman explained how traders could profit by selling oil futures before a price drop triggered by Trump’s announcement, estimating potential gains of around $58 million from suspicious trading volume.
- Krugman emphasized that the sensitive national security information involved makes this more serious than typical insider trading, comparing it to selling national secrets and highlighting the ethical and legal implications.
- The trades likely involved someone close to the White House passing information to financial operators, and while proving insider trading is difficult, the timing and scale of transactions strongly suggest wrongdoing.
- Financial media and foreign governments closely monitor such market activity, making these suspicious trades a clear signal of confidential developments, which undermines trust and raises concerns about accountability.
