'Drunken' Broker Sent Oil to 8-Month High in 2009

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49197769

On June 30, 2009, oil mysteriously jumped by more than $1.50 a barrel
during the night, to reach its highest price in eight months, the kind
of swing that is caused by a major geopolitical event.

Although not authorized to invest company cash in trades, Steve
Perkins, a long standing, senior broker at PVM Oil Futures, had
managed to spend $520 million on oil futures contracts throughout the
night, the FSA said.

On the morning of the 30th, an admin clerk called Perkins to ask why
he had bought 7 million barrels of crude during the night. Perkins had
no recollection of the transactions, and it turned out that he had
made the trades during a “drunken blackout," according to the FSA.

Between the hours of 1:22 a.m. and 3:41 a.m., Perkins gradually bought
69 percent of the global market, while driving prices up from $71.40
to $73.05, by bidding higher each time.

At 6:30 a.m., presumably sobering up and realizing what he’d done, he
sent a message to his managing director claiming an unwell relative
meant he would not be able to make it into work.