About That $100 Oil Trade

The big news yesterday was that oil hit $100 a barrel even though it was just one trade. Now it looks like the trade was done by a guy so he could…tell his grandchildren.

An independent trader ‘seeking his moment of fame’ caused oil prices to hit unprecendented levels of $100-a-barrel yesterday following a single deal.
The buyer, who was trading on his own money bought 1,000 barrels of crude oil from a colleague, which is the minimum allowed.
Strangely, he then sold then back almost immediately, making a loss of $600. The move left industry insiders questioning the reasons behind the deal.
Stephen Schork, a former trader at Nymex and editor of the oil market Schork Report told the Financial Times: “A local trader just spent about $600 in a trading loss to buy the right to tell his grandchildren he was the one who did it.
“Probably he is framing right now the print reflecting the trade,” he added.

Posted by on January 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 am


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