CFTC launches investigation into oil trading before Trump's adjustment of policy towards Iran.

According to informed sources, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating a series of "precisely timed" crude oil futures trades that occurred before President Trump's change in policy towards a war with Iran. The CFTC is leading the investigation into crude oil futures trades on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange platforms, and has requested data from both exchanges, including the so-called "Tag 50" identifier used to identify trading entities. On March 23, just 15 minutes before Trump announced a delay in his previously threatened strike on Iranian energy infrastructure, crude oil and stock index futures worth billions of dollars were traded. Trump's subsequent statement caused a sharp drop in oil prices and a significant increase in the stock market. Similar incidents occurred before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran on April 7. Hours before the news was made public, there was an increase in futures trading activity, followed by a drop in oil and natural gas prices in response to the news.