Stoned Broker Sent Oil to 8-Month High in 2009

Is anyone's belief system shattered?  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 according to cnbc.

The amazing, true cause of this price spike has now been released by a Financial Services Authority investigation (FSA). 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.  By the time PVM realized the transactions had not been authorized by a client, they had incurred losses of $9,763,252….

Read all about it at http://www.cnbc.com/id/49197769