This is like something out of a spy novel, but it is probably true to life.

An analysis of trading activity on the stock market indicates that somebody knew of and invested based on the October 7th attacks on Israel.

#ICYMI – Hamas may have made millions by short-selling Israeli investments before its terror attacks https://t.co/DKVEYvv5WM pic.twitter.com/7MaEI1JY9L

— National Post (@nationalpost) December 5, 2023

I suppose that if you are based in Qatar and have access to billions of dollars, it would make sense to use advance knowledge of a dramatic event to profit in the markets.

It would be silly not to, really. Especially if you are a cold-blooded murderous SOB.

People with advance knowledge of the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas may have financially profited from the deadly strikes through significant short-selling of shares in Israeli companies, a study says.

“Days before the attack, traders appeared to anticipate the events to come,” says the research paper by U.S. financial law specialists

.“Our findings offer strong evidence that informed traders profited by anticipating the events of October 7,” according to the unpublished study that notes the specific reasons behind such unusual trading is not known, but suggests twisted insider trading could be a means of terrorist financing or terror profiteering.

Hamas’ top 3 leaders live in the lap of luxury in Qatar and, between them, are worth $11 billion. It’s tough being a terrorist these days, especially when you have to find ways to put all that money to work. When you have a golden opportunity like this one, you have to grab it and squeeze out every dime you can.

“On Oct. 2, short interest in the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) suddenly, and significantly, spiked. And just before the attack, short selling of Israeli securities on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange increased dramatically,” the paper says.

Data shows the increase in short selling “is economically and statistically unusual,” the authors say — so much so, almost all reported off-exchange trading volume of the ETF on Oct. 2 was short selling, with another spike immediately before the attack.

It is “extremely unlikely that the volume of short selling on Oct. 2 occurred by random chance … (and likely) was related to the Hamas attack rather than random noise.

“The short selling that day far exceeded the short selling that occurred during numerous other periods of crisis, including the recession following the financial crisis, the 2014 Israel-Gaza war, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” the paper says.

Contrary to people’s beliefs, war is not good for business. But it can be a very good business for specific people. It is an excellent mechanism for redistributing wealth from the many to the few, and it appears that this is exactly what happened in this case. Men, women, and children have been dying, including the people of Gaza, whom Hamas claims to represent. At least two cities will be flattened, and the scars for the survivors will never properly heal.

But it sure looks like Hamas’ leaders will make out like bandits. And if you are a psychopathic killer, as these men are, it’s a win-win.

Not everybody buys the idea that the huge increase in short selling was done with foreknowledge of the attack, and perhaps there is another explanation. But one of the arguments against it doesn’t hold water: that Hamas didn’t have the resources to deploy. Technically, that may be true, but that excludes the leadership of the organization’s personal wealth. It may be that Hamas itself, as an organization, didn’t do this. But it seems likely that billionaires with foreknowledge (or Iranians?) could and would do this.

c) Similar findings around other terrorist attacks have been found false, or attributable to other factors (other than terrorists selling short to profit from their attacks)

I need to do a full review of the article, but we can start with a quick plausibility probe.

— JMDavis (@JessMarinDavis) December 4, 2023

Is this all Hamas activity? From what I know about Hamas finance, it's extremely unlikely that the group held this amount of assets that could be deployed on the Israeli stock exchange. It's a huge risk. (I could be wrong…)

— JMDavis (@JessMarinDavis) December 4, 2023

We may eventually know the truth behind this, but given how cold-blooded Hamas has been I am inclined to believe that this was related to the attack.