Bloomberg: CFTC adviser had staff retract referral on oil/S&P futures sold ~15 min before 23 Mar Iran post
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2026 10:17 am
Not a ticker story, but it matters for anyone trading futures or index ETFs around headline risk.
What Bloomberg reported late Tuesday:
- On 23 March, in a two-minute window from about 06:49 New York time, traders sold contracts equal to at least 6 million barrels of Brent/WTI (about 8.5x normal volume for that time of morning) and over $2B of S&P 500 futures
- Roughly 15 minutes later Trump posted on Truth Social that he was backing off strikes on Iranian power plants. Brent fell as much as 14% and equities jumped
- CFTC market-oversight analysts filed a referral to enforcement. Per Bloomberg's sources, Mel Gunewardena, senior adviser to Chairman Michael Selig, had the referral retracted and took over the data work with his own team
- A CFTC official says the agency wanted a broader international review (futures, swaps, OTC) and that enforcement is still looking at 23 March. DOJ is reported to have a parallel inquiry
- Senator Warren wants Selig and Gunewardena in front of Congress
Why I care as a scalper:
- If big, well-timed flow keeps showing up minutes before policy headlines, the "unexplained" pre-headline move in CL/ES is worth respecting rather than fading
- In practice: tighter risk when oil or index futures suddenly print size with no visible news, and no averaging into it
Sources: [Bloomberg Law](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/white-col ... oil-trades) | [Warren statement](https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom ... ocial-post)
Do you change sizing when CL or ES starts moving hard with no headline yet? And does this kind of story change how much you trust the futures tape around policy news?
What Bloomberg reported late Tuesday:
- On 23 March, in a two-minute window from about 06:49 New York time, traders sold contracts equal to at least 6 million barrels of Brent/WTI (about 8.5x normal volume for that time of morning) and over $2B of S&P 500 futures
- Roughly 15 minutes later Trump posted on Truth Social that he was backing off strikes on Iranian power plants. Brent fell as much as 14% and equities jumped
- CFTC market-oversight analysts filed a referral to enforcement. Per Bloomberg's sources, Mel Gunewardena, senior adviser to Chairman Michael Selig, had the referral retracted and took over the data work with his own team
- A CFTC official says the agency wanted a broader international review (futures, swaps, OTC) and that enforcement is still looking at 23 March. DOJ is reported to have a parallel inquiry
- Senator Warren wants Selig and Gunewardena in front of Congress
Why I care as a scalper:
- If big, well-timed flow keeps showing up minutes before policy headlines, the "unexplained" pre-headline move in CL/ES is worth respecting rather than fading
- In practice: tighter risk when oil or index futures suddenly print size with no visible news, and no averaging into it
Sources: [Bloomberg Law](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/white-col ... oil-trades) | [Warren statement](https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom ... ocial-post)
Do you change sizing when CL or ES starts moving hard with no headline yet? And does this kind of story change how much you trust the futures tape around policy news?