CFTC launches investigation into oil trading before Trump adjusts Iran policy According to sources familiar with the matter, on April 16th, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating a series of crude oil futures trades that appeared with "unusually precise timing" before Trump's shift in Iran war policy. The CFTC is leading an investigation into crude oil futures trading on the CME and ICE platforms, and has requested both exchanges to submit relevant data, including the so-called "Tag 50" identifier used to identify trading entities. On March 23, 15 minutes before Trump announced that he would postpone the previously threatened strike on Iran's energy infrastructure, billions of dollars worth of crude oil and stock index futures were traded. Trump's subsequent statement led to a sharp drop in crude oil prices and a significant rise in the stock market. A similar situation occurred before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran on April 7th. A few hours before the announcement, futures trading activity increased, and then the news triggered a decline in oil and natural gas prices.