SEC: There was no pre 9/11 option trading on the attacks.

I don't think the following is far fetched.

In an office at the SEC . . .

Harold Hornet, head of "investigations" at the SEC presides over a meeting of investigators under his supervision at the commission. (I know this sounds corny, simple and wrong, but I'm winging it to get to the essentials.)

Hornet: "Look, we've been tasked with looking into some of the trades in the airline sector in the leadup to 9/11."

Maxwell Sharp, keen investigator: "What's up chief? Does something look fishy?"

Hornet: "There's been a couple of spikes and some profit taking on shorts."

Sharp: "Hmmm. Shorts."

Hornet: "Yeah, a few people got lucky . . . on other people's bad luck."

Sharp: "How lucky . . . like suspiciously lucky?"

Hornet: "Some people made a bundle. These are institutional traders for the most part. They made some change and the optics on some of these trades are bad, a little too spikey."

Sharp: "Heck. You mean like BLG (Bin Laden Group) cashed in because the family black sheep blew up Manhatten?"

Hornet: "Uh, . . . actually we're more interested in people like Deutche Bank and a few other folks closer to home."

Sharp: "Jumpin' Jiminey! The Bush family is connected to the bin Ladens. Do you think they were tipped off in advance and then spread the word to some of the bigger players . . . "

Hornet: "That's enough of that! Listen you! Our president is going to make those bastards pay for what they did. He was down on the pile, just like everybody else. I don't want that kind of thinking going on here.

We don't know where these people get their information and tips. We don't even know whether they were acting on tips. There is so much programmed trading nowadays that they probably just scored some lucky hits and then had the misfortune to look bad because the reason for their luck was so high profile awful, dammit."

Sharp: "Yeah. Sorry boss. You're right. It's just the optics."

Hornet: "That's right. But we want to be thorough anyway because if we don't, those clowns on the internet are going to be all over us. So when you look at these trades, check if they are really anomalous or do they fit into an established pattern for the given institution?

Sharp: "Right chief!"

Hornet: "And Sharp?"

Sharp: "Yes chief?"

Hornet: "Be polite and don't ruffle feathers. Just get the facts. We need to wrap this thing up quickly and get back to normal. The idea of these people having advanced knowledge of an attack like this is absurd anyway. Bunch of ragheads running amuck!"

Sharp: "True. I guess the key is to look at patterns. Still, if somebody had a really well informed source who knew far enough in advance what was going to happen, they could suggest a pattern of trading that would disguise what was really the result of a tip off. In other words they could prepare a trading pattern well in advance of 9/11 . . ."

Hornet: "Sharp! This is not that kind of investigation. We're not going on a wild goose chase looking for Deep Throat. We are just doing our job within the terms of our purview. Nobody expects us to be Woodward and Bernstein, got it?"

Sharp: "Yessir."

Hornet: "Good, now get outta here!"

[edit on 6-5-2010 by ipsedixit]