Hedge Funds Ramped Up Bullish Oil Bets Ahead of Tariff Day Drop

Hedge funds increased their bullish positioning on Brent crude to the highest in 11 months in the week before the biggest market meltdown since 2022, revealing just how badly some investors underestimated Trump's aggressive trade policy.
Money managers increased their net-long position on Brent by 56,112 lots to 318,182 lots in the week ended April 1, the highest since late April 2024, according to figures from ICE Futures Europe. Traders hedged against tighter global supply balances after US President Donald Trump threatened secondary tariffs on Russian oil exports if negotiations with Ukraine stalled.

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USA Today

34 minutes ago

• USA Today

How Operation Midnight Hammer unfolded: Details of US bombing in Iran

The United States entered Israel's war against Iran after attacking nuclear facilities with stealth bombers, a guided missile submarine, and an array of support aircraft in a night operation on June 21. President Donald Trump announced the military operation in a Saturday night address, stating that Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities were "obliterated" and threatening future attacks if Iran did not "make peace." General Dan Caine, Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined the details of the operation, named "Midnight Hammer" in a June 22 briefing. Inside the attack: Details revealed of secret US mission to bomb Iran How Operation Midnight Hammer unfolded: Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. "At midnight Friday into Saturday morning a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States. As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the West and into the Pacific as a decoy," said Caine. "The main strike package comprised of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the East with minimal communications." "As the strike package approached Fordow and Natanz, the U.S. protection package employed high speed suppression weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package, with fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian surface-to-air threats," said Caine. "At approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 2:10 a.m. Iran time, the lead B-2 dropped two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapons on the first of several aimpoints at Fordow." Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is located deep under a mountainside near the city of Qom. "The remaining bombers then hit their targets as well, with a total of fourteen MOPs dropped against two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck betwen 6:40 p.m and 7:05 p.m. Eastern time, again, that's about 2:10 in the morning, local time in Iran," said Caine. "In total, U.S. forces employed approximately 75 precision guided weapons during this operation. This included, as the President stated last night, 14 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, marking the first-ever operational use of this weapon." According to Department of Defense documents, the GBU-57 is a guided, penetrating weapon with the ability to reach and destroy targets in deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels. The warhead case is made from a high performance steel alloy, which allows for a large explosive payload while maintaining integrity during impact. "Well prior to the strike General Kurilla elevated force protection measures across the region, especially in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf. Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks," said Caine. What's next? Roughly 40,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East are bracing for potential counter-attacks, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a bulletin warning of a "heightened threat environment," and Iran's parliament has endorsed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil transportation route. Trump has threatened further attacks if Iran does not "make peace." Contributing: Sara Chernikoff, Jennifer Borresen, Ramon Padilla and Stephen J. Beard. Read more: Live updates: US on 'high alert' for Iran retaliation, says nuke program 'obliterated' 30,000-pound bunker busters used for first time in Iran nuclear facility strikes Israel-Iran timeline: How Israeli attack and Iranian retaliation unfolded Israel attacks Iran: See strike map, satellite images of nuclear sites How does a bunker-buster bomb work? A closer look at the GBU-57

CNBC

34 minutes ago

• CNBC

Bitcoin sinks below $99,000 as U.S. strikes on Iran trigger crypto market sell-off

Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since May over the weekend, as rising tensions in the Middle East and renewed inflation fears triggered a sharp selloff across digital assets. Bitcoin dropped below the $99,000 mark on Sunday — its lowest point in more than a month — as the crypto market became the first to react to escalating geopolitical risk. Bitcoin is trading around $99,380, down more than 2% over the past 24 hours, while ether has dropped 5% to below $2,200. Solana, XRP, and dogecoin also posted sharp losses, dragging the entire crypto complex deep into the red. The selloff appears to be a combination of geopolitical shock and macroeconomic concern. Iran has reportedly threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz — a vital shipping lane that handles about 20% of global oil supply. JPMorgan warns that a full closure could drive oil prices as high as $130 per barrel. One prominent macro research firm notes that such a spike could send U.S. inflation back toward 5% — a level not seen since March 2023, when the Fed was still actively raising rates. That outlook has traders reassessing the path of interest rates — and rotating out of speculative assets like crypto. While bitcoin is often pitched as an inflation hedge, it's currently behaving more like a high-beta tech stock. According to crypto data provider Kaiko, bitcoin's correlation with the tech-heavy Nasdaq has climbed sharply in recent weeks, after hitting a multi-month low earlier this year — a period that coincided with surging inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs. Institutional positioning also appears to have shifted. More than $1.04 billion flowed into spot bitcoin ETFs from Monday through Wednesday last week, according to data from CoinGlass. But those inflows collapsed heading into the weekend, with zero net movement Thursday and just $6.4 million on Friday — coinciding with President Donald Trump's early G7 departure and the announcement of a two-week review of U.S. options on Iran. The technical breakdown added fuel to the selloff. CoinGlass research shows bitcoin's drop below $99,000 triggered forced selling across offshore derivatives platforms like Binance and Bybit. At its peak on Sunday, more than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated during a 24-hour span — with over 95% coming from long bets, underscoring just how overexposed the market was heading into the weekend.

The Hill

39 minutes ago

• The Hill

Iran's ‘proportionate response' will be set by military, envoy tells UN

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, condemned the United States' involvement in its conflict with Israel, and said the nation's military would determine its response after President Trump on Saturday ordered the bombing of three of Iran's nuclear sites. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly warned the warmongering US regime to refrain from stumbling into this quagmire, even though Iran reserves its full and legitimate right under international law to defend itself against this blatant US aggression and its Israeli proxy,' he said at the United Nations. 'The timing, nature and the scale of Iran's proportionate response will be decided by its armed forces.' The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on the escalating war on Sunday afternoon. Iran, the U.S. and Israel were among the nations that spoke to the attack during the meeting. Iravani described the action as the U.S. helping Israel carry out its 'vile agenda.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump on Saturday for directing U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. 'President Trump and I often say, 'Peace through strength.' First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight, President Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength,' Netanyahu said in a video on the social platform X. Iravani said the Israeli president had hijacked 'U.S. foreign policy, dragging the United States into yet another costly, baseless war.' Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the U.N., spoke ahead of Iravani, and defended Trump's actions. 'Iran has long obfuscated its nuclear weapons program and stonewalled good faith efforts in recent negotiations, Madam President, the time finally came for the United States in the defense of its ally and in the defense of our own citizens and interest, to act decisively,' she said in explaining Saturday's bombing. Shea told the council that Iran, for decades, 'has been responsible for misery and countless deaths across the Middle East. Iran's government and its proxies have also killed numerous Americans, including American service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.' She accused Iranian officials of ramping up 'hostile bluster and rhetoric' over recent weeks.