Oil traders cash in ahead of Trump’s assessments

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Traders waged $580m on oil contracts 15 minutes before Donald Trump said that the US would postpone attacks on Iran’s power plants. The announcement caused the price of crude to plummet, momentarily allaying fears of more disruption to energy supplies. It is not known who placed the bets, but the timing has again raised the spectre of insider trading. Wagers were made on prediction markets shortly before Trump attacked Venezuela at the start of the year. It is possible that someone had advanced knowledge of the president’s announcement on Iran. But Trump also has a history of backing down. Perhaps he has become all too predictable.