Trump's Post Preceded Unusual Crude Oil Selloff: 6 Million Barrels of Futures Exit Early, Suspected "Rat Account" Raises Market Manipulation Concerns

Mars Finance reports that on March 24, according to ICE data, before U.S. President Trump posted a key message on Iran that triggered a sharp fluctuation in international oil prices, the crude oil futures market already showed significant abnormal activity. Large-scale short selling coincided closely with the timing of the news release, leading the market to question whether there was “front-running” or insider information leaks. Data shows that within just two minutes from 6:49 to 6:51 a.m. Eastern Time, at least the equivalent of 6 million barrels of oil futures contracts were concentrated in sell-offs, involving the two major benchmarks, Brent Crude Oil and WTI Crude Oil. Over the same period in the past five trading days, the average trading volume was only about 700 lots (roughly 700,000 barrels), making this scale nearly nine times larger. About 14 minutes later, at 7:05 a.m., Trump posted a message related to Iran, and market sentiment quickly shifted. During the session, crude oil prices dropped as much as 14%. The sharp price fluctuations and the abnormal sell-off behavior occurred within a highly correlated timeframe, sparking widespread discussion about “front-running” trading. From a trading structure perspective, such large-scale selling in such a short period typically requires institutional-level funds and causes significant liquidity impact. Some traders suggest that this type of operation resembles “event-driven front-running,” where traders pre-position short positions before major information is publicly released to gain excess profits once the news is confirmed.