What Next | Daily News and Analysis Where Insider Trading Becomes Treason
22 snips
Mar 31, 2026 
Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times columnist, joins to unpack suspicious trades that preceded a major Iran announcement. They describe massive oil and S&P futures moves minutes before the news. The conversation traces how those trades profited, why investigations stalled, and what it means for policy, markets, and national security.
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Huge Preannouncement Trades Signal Insider Knowledge
- Large, concentrated trades minutes before Trump's Iran pullback strongly suggest someone knew the decision in advance.
- Financial Times estimated ~$580 million in oil futures sold at 6:49 a.m., with Trump's Truth Social post at 7:05 a.m., creating an unusual minute-by-minute spike.
Political Will, Not Technical Limits, Blocks Probes
- Lack of investigation appears tied to the current Justice Department's unwillingness to pursue cases tied to this administration.
- Krugman predicts the DOJ won't investigate, turning major suspicious trades into brief page-two stories.
How Preannouncement Futures Trades Turn Into Millions
- Traders profit by selling futures before a price drop and buying them back after the announcement.
- Example: selling WTI at $98 then repurchasing at $90 yields a sizeable arbitrage on large volume.