The 9/11 Stock Market Conspiracy

On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda executed the deadliest terrorist attack in modern history. It spawned numerous conspiracy theories that mostly fall apart under close inspection. But there's one particular claim that I've always wanted to put under a microscope. Federal officials have begun a major investigation. many Wall Street analysts believe is that the terrorists made bets

this could very well be insider trading [music] at the worst, most horrific, most evil use you've ever seen in your entire life. On the 5th of September, Osama bin Laden was notified that the attacks would be carried out 6 days later on the 11th. We know this because he said so himself in one of the

videotape transcripts released by the Pentagon. [music] Almost immediately, there is a spike in trades that would make money if UAL stock was to decline. UL is the ticker symbol for United Airlines. The operator of two of the four planes hijacked in the attacks. The next day, on the 6th, demand for these bets skyrocketed to

[music] 20 times the level from 2 days prior, and 96% of the buying that day was done by a single US investment adviser. [music] On Sunday the 9th of September, about 2,000 newsletter subscribers received an email. It contained a trading recommendation to bet that AMR stock would decline before midocctober. AMR is American Airlines, the operator of the

other two planes that would be hijacked in less than 48 hours. When markets opened on Monday the 10th, the volume of bets against the stock surged. [music] In the early hours of the following day, America and the world were rocked by an unthinkable disaster. >> Today, we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World