Israel investigates suspicious stock trading before Hamas attacks on October 7
Kyiv • UNN
Israeli authorities are investigating suspicious stock transactions made in the run-up to the October 7 Hamas attack, based on a study conducted by US law professors that suggests the event was predictable. The study focuses on investor profits due to increased short selling in the run-up to the Hamas attack, and also pays attention to unusual trading in high-risk short-term options.
Israeli authorities are investigating possible stock market transactions market, following allegations by U.S. researchers that some investors may have had advance knowledge of Hamas' plan to attack Israel on October 7. October 7, and used this information to make millions of dollars selling Israeli stocks.
This was reported by UNN, with reference to Reuters and a study by American law professors from the Universities of New York University and Columbia University.
Details
Israeli authorities are investigating a report by American scientists that some investors may have known about the plan may have known in advance about the plan of the radical Islamic group Hamas to to carry out an attack on October 7.
The study by by law professors Robert Jackson Jr. of New York University and and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University showed that on the eve of the attacks there was significant short selling of stocks.
In the days before the attack, traders appeared to be anticipating future events
The researchers note that this interest "unexpectedly and significantly increased" on October 2, as confirmed by data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
In addition, the researchers found that short selling before October 7 "exceeded short selling that had occurred in numerous other periods of crisis," including the recession after the financial crisis 2008, the 2014 Israel-Gaza war, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In particular, the example of Leumi, Israel's largest bank, which sold 4.43 million shares between September 14 and October 5 October, 4.43 million new shares were sold, bringing in a profit of 3.2 billion shekels (£680 million) on this additional short sale.
While we do not see an aggregate increase in short positions of Israeli companies on US exchanges, we did find a sharp and unusual increase in trading of risky short-term options on these companies that expire immediately after the attacks
Reuters contacted the Israeli Securities Authority and received a response that "the matter is known to the authorities and is being investigated by all relevant parties."
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