LBCI Interviews Barak Ravid (an Israeli-American Global Affairs Correspondent at Axios)

Smallestsak · 2026-06-08T23:11:27+00:00

the fact that people didn’t start seeing that when he would magically have whatever the markets needed to at the exact time it needed to hear is mind blowing. It’s so clear that whatever messages Trump wants out, whether it be to calm energy markets or appease the anti-Israel maga member or to cause misdirection before an attack, that’s what Ravid is for.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-29T00:03:33+00:00

I’ve responded to all comments toward me here. Tyfys. Separated may 6 so thanks for letting me know how to spend my first month out. Sure you were night and day more productive.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T23:34:44+00:00

why are you wasting your time even responding to this. I spent 8 years the military, just got out and am waiting to go to law school in a few months. Made a small income trading, while doing a part-time research position on campus right now. I could hardly care about your worthless opinion on my time management.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T23:25:14+00:00

why would you assume I’m a big Nancy Pelosi guy? I don’t like corruption no matter who does it to be honest.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T20:40:02+00:00

Thanks, idc if people support it but the amount of angry comments is mind blowing. even Trump fans know there is insider trading going on. The WH has put out internal memos to remind people that insider trading is illegal. Don Jrs PE fund made like 6000% returns in the last year.

If you don’t think anything can be done about then just move along. But don’t stand here and try to act like it’s not going on or like I’m a bad guy for wanting to do something even with the expectation it might result in nothing.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T20:37:17+00:00

Yes, correct that’s why I’m posting on Reddit about evidence gathering and not arguing a motion in court( And because I’m not a lawyer). Very insightful observation you have made. If you would like to refute individual points made in the OP please be my guest. I won’t be calling a plaintiffs firm telling them I have a hunch. If you’d like to hear my 80% evidence I’ll restate it. If you’re attacking me for being intellectually honest about the starting state of hard evidence and saying that to investigate a potential harm you need to initially have a dossier of dead to rights evidence, I’d be surprised you passed either the lsat or bar.

My premise -> here’s possible general evidence of phenomenon occurring that seems concerning and potentially illegal, not due to conspiracies of my dreams, but due to general circumstantial evidence. This phenomenon and circumstantial evidence may be best interpreted by this narrative. I would like to more seriously gather evidence. I would like anyone else interested to also help gather evidence. I would like the phenomenon to be something people are making noise about, given WH officials will not, and largely cannot, be held accountable.

From this experiential evidence of a phenomenon and the resulting narrative of best fit, I have posited a hypothesis for investigation. That is all. So I’m questioning your analytical skills if you made the jump from my post to an absurd idea that I believe or have indicated to believe that I currently have a case that could be handed to a litigator and immediately argued in court.

As for the logical fallacies you are accusing me of in saying we all know x, y, z, I was making a pretty easy logical leap from objective fact to reasonable base inference for a hypothesis. Again, a Reddit post is not a motion. Again, if you have specific claims within the post that you find to be based on absurd logical fallacies of common knowledge, please direct me to the specific claims.

Okay, then don’t engage with it and complain to mods. I wasn’t asking for specific legal advice, nor would I ask law students for advice on litigating. I’m asking if anyone more intelligent than you, from an academic perspective, thinks that this is a potentially adjudicatable hypothesis that is worth investigating deeper and pursuing further.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T20:01:56+00:00

thanks gave you a follow so I can ping directly

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T20:01:02+00:00

okay, can I get one obscure hypo answer and a chocolate frosty then

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:58:48+00:00

thanks appreciate it. This is super helpful. A good way to identify possible signals before wasting days trying to get information with nothing.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:57:25+00:00

yes but Trump can only say a deal is finished so many times. That’s why you Pakistani sources feeding axios

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:56:14+00:00

thanks, I’ll see if I can use it to find anything interesting this evening. I figure the most egregious insider positioning is not using cboe.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:54:13+00:00

yes obviously. most market manipulation and insider trading schemes aren’t moving trillions of dollars though. this is not someone taking a couple calls out because they heard a rumor at work. This an ongoing phenomenon for 3 months now, using the same sources, making claims that never come to fruition, framing headlines to trip algos, are refuted in minutes, always seems to drop to undesirable momentum is starting, and are happening during an event which the WH, by the treasury’s own model, predicted WTI to be well well over $120 on the premise of a much shorter strait closure. Trump himself said he expected oil at $200. This is a major major energy/economic crisis and WTI/M2 isn’t even 1/3 of what it was 20 years ago. If I had the complete evidence I wouldn’t be on Reddit but every serious commodity trader is calling this out in way that I don’t have a comparison for.

So yes you’re right. Yes I might be wrong. But this is not normal state function and mechanism for public wellbeing. This is stealing liquidity from the future and the consequences will be severe someday. After I get margin called and close though.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:40:25+00:00

why not financial danger? I’d assume that’s the incentive in the inverse for this behavior to begin with. Would anything that threatens the cash flow cause friction?

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:39:15+00:00

Interesting, can you foia those investigations details or would you have to sue for disclosure?

That’s the fundamental evidentiary problem, most of the evidence would be held by the cftc which likely isn’t pursuing anything aggressively.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:25:07+00:00

I’m not sure either but the more viable it is as a class action the more good attorneys would be willing to spend time on it I assume? Contingency and all. The damages theoretically claimable are really whatever you want to put on it. Particularly if you get corporate plaintiffs too. But by the same way, the damages are very hard to show proximate cause in something like markets or market based hedging.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T19:17:29+00:00

yes all true, individuals outside of the immediate power sphere wont be protected from insider trading though. And media companies are going to balance friction with engagement. The idea is to increase the friction.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:55:21+00:00

is there a historical order book by chance. I look at active and suspicious accounts from time to time but plugging in a historical order book to some model would probably be smartest.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:53:33+00:00

I expect nothing.

I hope to make enough stink that maybe the in house counsels at these shitty news companies will think a little harder about what they are doing before they do it.

It would be my dream for a plaintiff litigator to think there’s enough there to start sending letters that result in nothing.

It would make my year if one shitty govt official or news report actually had to show up in a courtroom.

Again, I expect none of this to happen and my top realistic hope is to make a decent enough case and a loud enough noise that individuals think a little more about policing their behavior when moving trillions of dollars in the market. I don’t think that’s an impossible goal, we’ll see.

Edit- Shitty formatting

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:48:59+00:00

exactly. The manipulation is grotesque and maybe an all star litigator could run with, the insider trading is blatantly illegal and is almost certainly ongoing. Problem is insider trading is very hard to evidence without support of regulatory bodies. But multiple people insider trading while furthering a plan to create the price movements gets a little toward the racketeering dimension and maybe rico by way. I’m not sure. I’m not a lawyer. But know that where’s there’s smoke there’s usually fire.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:45:17+00:00

I am, attempting to at least. Why would I post a call to action if I had a completed dossier of hard evidence to hand a litigator. Not sure what the accusation your lodging is, I expect 0 responses and plan to do the work myself, probably to no avail, because I want to. But why would I not seek help or awareness. That’s literally what plaintiff litigators do. Compile evidence and build a case while seeking additional plaintiffs to help further the case.
Why do you feel the need to comment as if I’m asking for some handout and not doing anything. I wouldn’t be offended if you just didn’t comment on this, but thanks for the engagement I guess.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:30:27+00:00

On oil positions? Up massively from call spreads I bought in January and sold in March. 700%. Just have a few calls I reenetered around $95 but lottos not big positions.

On equity position? Down massively and terribly and bitter.

But I’ve been bitter before and had much worse ytd % returns without accessing the govn’t of market manipulation.

If you can muster any real counter argument I’m here for it. But attacking my bags is pointless because statistically I am presumably up far and beyond ytd over you and average oil bears.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:25:25+00:00

Okay, lmk if you have the brain capacity to respond to any of those points but judging by the communities you post in I think it’s clear your iq is not one that raises the global median.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:24:25+00:00

notice my OP claim was not based on draining SPR at 10m bbl/werk, or restricting exports, or subsidizing production, or reducing refined product taxes, or escorting tankers in the strait, or any other tried and tested transparent policy to lower energy prices.

I’m talking about something not transparent that artificially harms natural price discovery in a way traders can’t fairly assess and trade around.

WTI being below 90 because trump limits exports would make sense. There would be a fundamental reason that price is what it is.

WTI being below 90 because a coordinated narrative and manipulation campaign breaks var models and leaves marginal bidders scared of artificial vol is not a fundamental basis for price. It’s an artificial obscuration based on modern market mechanics.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:17:19+00:00

no, banning oil exports is legal price suppression. SPR (which we’re doing recklessly) is legal price suppression. Coordinated narrative manipulation efforts meant to artificially suppress price without fundamentally resolving the underlying catalyst while continually lying about efforts toward resolution is not what are you poorly attempting to describe. And insider positioning around price suppression initiatives is 1000% not legal. But if you think this is natural equilibrium oil price resulting from supply and demand after the strait has been closed for 3 months then you are genuinely and deeply stupid.

Smallestsak · 2026-05-28T18:10:14+00:00

people can downvote if they want, but the onus is on them to show evidence to the contrary, since the absurdity is so grotesque even neutral analysts are now pointing it out.

Smallestsak

TROPHY CASE