On May 7th, about an hour before U.S. media Axios reported that "the U.S. and Iran are close to reaching a ceasefire memorandum of understanding," the WTI crude oil futures market suddenly saw an abnormal short position exceeding $1.7 billion, sparking market doubts about insider trading and early information leaks.

Data shows that between 3:40 and 4:10 a.m. Eastern Time, in the absence of significant news background, the market concentrated on establishing nearly 10k crude oil short contracts, with a nominal value of about $920 million. About 70 minutes later, Axios quoted U.S. officials as saying that the U.S. and Iran were close to reaching the "14 Points Agreement" to end the conflict, after which oil prices rapidly plummeted over 12%, and related short positions temporarily saw unrealized gains of approximately $125 million.

Several energy traders stated that trading during the early morning hours is usually quiet, and such large-scale precise trades are "extremely unusual," raising suspicions that some traders may have obtained information in advance. Axios reporters denied allegations of collusion with market participants to "manipulate" the market.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has previously been reported to be investigating abnormal trading activities related to "authentic social" posts and media reports. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren also publicly questioned whether the related trades "look like insider trading."

Additionally, Iran's Speaker of Parliament, Kalibaf, publicly dismissed Axios's reports about the "U.S.-Iran agreement," calling it a "false media narrative" and sarcastically referring to it as "Operation Fauxios (Fake News Operation)."