Insider Trading and the War in Iran

From Lauren Aratani's 4-18-26 GUARDIAN article entitled "Traders Placed Over $1bn in Perfectly Timed Bets on the Iran War. What Is Going On?":

Sixteen bets made $100,000 each accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did.

These bets and other well-timed wagers accurately predicted the precise timing of major developments in the US-Israel war with Iran, creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers and experts over potential insider trading.

Betting – once largely siloed to sporting events – has now spread to include contracts on news events where insider information could give some traders an advantage.

The proliferation of online betting markets like Polymarket and Kalshi has allowed bets on virtually any news event. It’s also easier than ever to buy commodity derivatives like oil futures, where traders gamble on what the price of oil will be in the future [...].

On the night of 27 February, the day before the US and Israel would carry out strikes on Iran, an unusual influx of about 150 accounts on Polymarket placed bets that the US would strike Iran the next day. A New York Times analysis found the bets totaled $855,000, with 16 accounts pocketing more than $100,000 each.

Soon after, a single anonymous Polymarket user, under an account named “Magamyman”, made over $553,000 after betting that Khamenei would be “removed” from power just moments before he was killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to a complaint filed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that regulates futures markets, by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group. The complaint also cites a crypto-analytics firm that identified six “suspected insiders” who made a total of $1.2m on Polymarket after Khamenei was killed.

The well-timed surge of wagers were seen again on 7 April, when at least 50 Polymarket accounts placed bets that the US and Iran would reach a ceasefire hours before Trump would announce it in a Truth Social post. Earlier, the president had said “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not open the strait of Hormuz.

But traders weren’t just active on Polymarket: there were similar surges of oil futures trading activity just hours before Trump announced updates to the conflict that would lower oil prices.

On 23 March, traders placed $580m in bets on the oil futures market just 15 minutes before Trump said on social media that the US was having “productive” talks with Iran, according to the Financial Times. The traders made a windfall after Trump’s comments triggered a sell-off in the oil markets that made oil prices plummet [...].

“Not only the timing, but the amount of these bets makes it look very likely that someone had insider knowledge … and placed very, very substantial bets on it,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen who filed the group’s complaint to the CFTC.

To read the entire article, click HERE. 

Torrance Man

From Eric Garcia's 4-26-26 INDEPENDENT article entitled "White House Correspondents’ Dinner Suspect Cole Allen Sent Anti-Trump Manifesto to Family Before Opening Fire":

The suspected shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner sent a manifesto critical of President Donald Trump to his family before he allegedly opened fire at the Washington Hilton, The New York Post reports.

Authorities identified the shooter as 31-year-old Cole Allen, a teacher from Torrance, California. Allen’s brother notified police in the New London, Connecticut, police department. Allen’s document was signed “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen.”

The Post reported that the manifesto showed that Allen allegedly wanted to kill officials from the Trump administration.

“Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed,” he wrote. Allen would proceed to list off some of the actions from the Trump administration that allegedly drove him to open fire.

“I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial,” he said. “I’m not a schoolkid blown up, or a child starved, or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”

Allen said that officials from the Trump administration — with the exception of FBI Director Kash Patel — were targets for his alleged rampage.

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” he wrote in reference to the president [...].

Many other attendees, including reporters, members of the Trump administration and guests at the dinner criticized the lax security at the dinner, particularly given the multiple assassination attempts against the president.

"Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” Allen wrote. “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”

To read the entire article, click HERE. 

Dover Demon Anniversary!

April 21st marks the 49th anniversary of the Dover Demon, a mysterious creature first sighted on April 21st, 1977, in Dover, Massachusetts. To commemorate this infamous cryptozoological event, I suggest listening to the January 7, 2026 episode of BINNALL OF AMERICA in which Loren Coleman (author of such excellent Fortean books as MYSTERIOUS AMERICA, MOTHMAN AND OTHER CURIOUS ENCOUNTERS, TOM SLICK AND THE SEARCH FOR THE YETI, TRUE GIANTS, CREATURES OF THE OUTER EDGE, etc.) performs a deep dive into the entire confounding affair... 

Binnall of America: The Revival - E106 | Loren Coleman:

I Make My Debut Appearance on FORGOTTEN HOLLYWOOD!!!

The latest episode of FORGOTTEN HOLLYWOOD has just dropped! Hosted by Doug Hess, this episode covers my most recent nonfiction book, HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD (Headpress, 2025). Topics include Stephen R. Bissette, TABOO, Val Lewton, Jacques Tourneur, Mark Robson, THE CAT PEOPLE, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, Philip K. Dick, the JFK assassination, INHERIT THE WIND, THE PARALLAX VIEW, Loren Singer, MK-ULTRA, the OSS, the CIA, Curt Siodmak, Dr. Jose M.R. Delgado, CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN, Oliver Stone, John Carpenter, THEY LIVE, Keith David, Roddy Piper, the Freemasons, Jonathan Lethem, D. Harlan Wilson, Gnosticism, THE LOWDOWN, Jim Thompson, Hunter S. Thompson, THE GREAT GATSBY, and the forthcoming Rondo Awards! To listen to the entire episode, click HERE!!!

WHERE DID THE ROAD GO?: Off Road Edition with Tim Renner

Recommended Listening: On the most recent episode of WHERE DID THE ROAD GO?, Seriah Azkath and Timothy Renner (co-author of WHERE THE FOOTSTEPS END) discuss the implications of Marq Evans' forthcoming documentary film, CAPTURING BIGFOOT. To listen to the interview, click HERE.

Human Remains Discovered in Long Beach Multiple Times Since February

Human remains have been discovered in Long Beach, California three times during the past few weeks. In one incident a dead man was found floating in the marina, in another a corpse washed ashore between Alamitos Beach and Junipero Beach, and in still another a skull was uncovered by children during an Easter Egg Hunt...

1) Here's an except from a 2-24-26 ABC7.com report entitled "Boaters Find Body Floating Near Queen Mary in Long Beach; Investigation Underway":

An investigation is underway after two boaters say they found a man's body floating near the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Officers responded to the report of a body in the water near Queensway Bay around 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Long Beach Police Department.

Details were limited, but the boaters described the moment they spotted the body, saying they initially thought it was trash until they made out what appeared to be a back.

"It was actually pretty surreal. To think that you could find a dead body like that... like right outside of the marina in Long Beach - that's insane," one of them said.

Authorities say the body of the unidentified man had "no obvious signs of trauma."

To read the original article, click HERE. 

2)  From Jacob Sisneros' 4-7-26 LONG BEACH POST article entitled "Human Skull Found During Easter Egg Hunt at Long Beach Park, Authorities Say":

Authorities say a child found a human skull in DeForest Park while hunting for eggs on Easter Sunday.

At about 4:48 p.m. on Sunday, a 911 caller reported that a child was looking for eggs along a dirt path in the park when they found the skull buried under the dirt, according to Long Beach police.

Officers responded to the scene and taped off a section of the dirt path, then contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, police said.

Medical examiner staff went to the scene and determined Sunday night that they needed a forensic anthropology team to respond the next morning.

On Monday morning, that team recovered a “skeletonized human skull and mandible” from the dirt path adjacent to East Osgood Street, Kelly Vail, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement.

No information was immediately available about the person’s age or identity.

To read the original article, click HERE. 

3) From John Donegan's 4-14-26 LONG BEACH POST article entitled "Police Investigate After Man’s Body Washes Ashore in Long Beach":

The body of a man was found near the water’s edge on the Long Beach shoreline Tuesday, authorities confirmed.

Authorities have not yet identified the man, who was found on the shore in the 1900 block of E. Ocean Boulevard around 11:30 a.m., said a Long Beach police spokesperson. They estimated his age to be between 30 and 40 years old.

From a photo taken at the scene, the body appears to be that of a slim man, face down in the shallow water between Alamitos Beach and Junipero Beach, near the Pride lifeguard tower. Some debris is scattered around him in the surf.

Police say there are no signs of foul play, adding that an investigation is ongoing. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office will perform an autopsy to determine how the man died.

To read the original article, click HERE.

Maria Schowengerdt's Letter to The Heritage Foundation

On April 3, 2026, artist Maria Schowengerdt (the daughter of 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Freemason Richard Neal Schowengerdt, the trailblazing inventor featured so prominently in my 2015 book, CHAMELEO) sent the following letter to the far right-wing Heritage Foundation...

The Heritage Foundation and MAGA are trying to steal the entire legacy of The United States of America from the Freemasons without any knowledge, respect or understanding that:

1) All the Founding Fathers were Freemasons

2) Ben Franklin, a Freemason, influenced the younger Founding Fathers (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, et al., all Freemasons) to the governmental concepts of Montesquieu, a French lawyer--and a Freemason--who devised the concept of the Separation of Powers (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary)

3) The architect who laid out and designed Washington, D C., Pierre L'Enfant, was a Freemason who designed the city according to SPECIFIC Masonic geometric concepts 

4) George Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol Bldg. in 1793 performing a strict, Masonic Ritual wearing full Masonic regalia; the White House and all of the other original government buildings in D.C. had cornerstones laid by Freemasons performing a strict Masonic Ritual

5) The Masonic Brotherhood believes that all men are equal regardless of Race, Creed or Religion and these are the PRIMARY TENETS which The Brotherhood specifically built in to The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution

6) 53 of the 55 men who signed The Declaration of Independence
were Freemasons

There are *countless other examples* of Masonic doctrine and influence related to the founding of The United States of America, but know this: you erroneously believe you are creating a "new" vision of America based supposedly on "traditional American values" but the values you are espousing only go back to the 1950s. 

None of you, Russell Vought included, knows anything about The Founding Fathers or American history otherwise your organization wouldn't say, do, or write and disseminate the erroneous ideas it propounds, and do know this: Donald J. Trump, the 34 times convicted felon and adjudicated rapist, would NEVER be approved to be a Freemason in The Brotherhood--ever.

The Supreme Council 33° is watching everything.

I'd like to offer a special tip of the hat to Maria Schowengerdt for allowing me to post her illuminating missive here. By the way, you can see the ofrenda Maria created for her late father in honor of Dia de los Muertos in this 2022 CryptoPost. If you want to check out Maria's paintings, visit her website by clicking HERE. 

Maria's letter is an appropriate companion piece to my latest EVERGREEN REVIEW article, "One Nation Under G: Celebrating 250 Years of the Revolutionary Spirit," which examines the Masonic roots of the American Experiment (written to commemorate the Semiquincentennial of the United States). If you want to read the article, then simply click HERE.