Was there 400 contract put OI on AMEX Airline Index XAL in the week prior to 9/11. On that index it would be quite clear. Always wondered. Thanks. Geo.
I'm sure you've heard about the big out of the money put positions that were opened not that long before 9/11 in the individual airline stocks UAL and AMR. When the gov finally tracked down the guy who bought the puts and asked him to state why he made the trade he responded with "what's a put ???" Never did hear what the gov did with him, but supposedly it was a customer of a big house, and this guy was somewhere overseas. I mean, if the guy can't define a put, why did he buy so many of them ? Vega
I also never heard anything concrete from the investigations. I played amateur sleuth after 9/11 with thousands of other investors and traders and that's how I came to see that glaring put position on XLA. I suppose in retrospect that the easiest way for one with foreknowledge to hide and profit would be to short index futures in the herd of liquidity. Slate had a blurb on the issue today: 5. The misconception: Terrorists or their supporters profited by speculating on airline stocks before 9/11. What's wrong with the story: Terrorists may have profiteered, but the evidence is sketchy. As was widely reported after 9/11, the options market for United and American Airlines was unusually busy in the days before 9/11, with an extremely heavy volume of "put options"âbets that the airline shares would fall. By the end of September 2001, both the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched investigations into the unusual trading. Since then, they've been silent. Two years later, neither the exchange nor the SEC will comment on its investigation. Neither has announced any conclusion. The SEC has not filed any complaint alleging illegal activity, nor has the Justice Department announced any investigation or prosecution. This does not mean terrorist wagering didn't occur: It might well have. The absence of any complaint suggests the SEC found nothing illegal, but that's not definite. The SEC and the Chicago board seal the records of their investigations and won't offer any explanationâeven if there is an innocent oneâfor the strange trading. So, unless the SEC decides to file a complaintâunlikely at this late stageâwe may never know what they learned about terror trading.
=== I remember that mourning AMR & LUV did a huge gap down; actually thought they were going to be more polar bear fish food. Of course the major,medium trends were down then & no terrorist can change that; after that huge gap down they made unforgettable gains that day to the upside . === Airlines provide great service and tend to be a downtrend looking for a place to happen; Osama B laden may be crushed in a cave with a bunker buster on him- they are losing.