Study finds Hamas may have profited from Oct. 7 assault with advance stock market trades

[Almost Heaven]

A recent study finds that the Hamas terror group may have tried to profit off its October 7 assault on Israel, using advance knowledge of the attack to short sell Israeli companies in the days leading up to the massacre.

The study published in the SSRN journal by Robert J. Jackson, Jr. from the New York University School of Law and Joshua Mitts of Columbia Law School finds that traders who apparently had advance knowledge made billions of dollars.

“We document a significant spike in short selling in the principal Israeli-company ETF days before the October 7 Hamas attack,” the paper says.

“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. Similarly, we identify increases in short selling before the attack in dozens of Israeli companies traded in Tel Aviv,” it notes.

Study finds Hamas may have profited from Oct. 7 assault with advance stock market trades

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www.timesofisrael.com

 

[Almost Heaven]

Long story short...the brillant US economists failed to allow for the difference between $$ and shekels...:​

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange says no unusual trading ahead of Oct 7 Hamas attack​

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said on Tuesday a report by US researchers suggesting there were investors in Israel who may have profited from prior knowledge of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was inaccurate and its publication irresponsible.

Research by law professors Robert Jackson Jr from New York University and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University found significant short-selling of shares - when investors bet on share prices to fall - leading up to the attacks, which triggered Israel's ongoing war with Hamas.

The activity, they said, "exceeded the short-selling that occurred during numerous other periods of crisis" such as the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19.

They wrote that for Leumi, Israel's largest bank, 4.43 million shares sold short over the period Sept. 14 to Oct. 5 yielded profits of 3.2 billion shekels ($859 million).

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange says no unusual trading ahead of Oct 7 Hamas attack

The activity, "exceeded the short-selling that occurred during numerous other periods of crisis" such as the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19.

www.jpost.com