Trump takes the lead, is insider trading rampant in the US stock market?

Before Trump announced the suspension of tariffs, a series of extremely suspicious options trading activities occurred in the U.S. stock market, with precise buying exposing the possibility of serious insider trading in the market. On Wednesday, four hours before the announcement of the tariff suspension, Trump tweeted on his social media platform that it was time to buy shares of Trump Media & Tech. Trump tweeted that it was time to buy shares of Trump Media & Tech However, in reality, before Trump released the buying message, traders had already made large purchases of same-day expiration SPY 509 call options. These zero-day options (0DTE) would expire at the end of the day and would be nearly worthless without significant positive news. These options skyrocketed by 2100% in just one hour, and the precision of the trading timing makes it hard to believe it was a coincidence. Considering that the implied volatility (IV) of these options was very high that morning (IVR around 82), this large-scale buying behavior completely contradicts risk management principles, unless the traders were confident that the market was about to rise. As one market analyst stated: “This green spike appeared before the stock price jumped, it’s not luck, but insider knowledge. Some people knew exactly what was about to happen." Is There "Insider Trading" in the U.S. Stock Market? Data tracking abnormal options activity shows that suspicious trading is not limited to the aforementioned zero-day options; traders also opened positions in $QQQ, $TQQQ, and $SPY call options that day. The scale and return rates of these suspicious trades are astonishing: QQQ Call Options: Traders invested about $2.45 million, with profits exceeding 600% to date. SPY 510 Call Options: The return rate reached an astonishing 3000%. Zero-Day Options: Some invested only about $100,000 to buy zero-day options, which turned into $21 million in a short time. Market observers believe this could be "the best index options trade you will ever see in your life." But from another perspective, it is also one of the most obvious signs of insider trading Some netizens on X jokingly said that when the president directly announces insider trading to the whole world, it doesn't count as insider trading. Some netizens on X jokingly said that when the president directly announces insider trading to the whole world, it doesn't count as insider trading Risk warning and disclaimer The market has risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Investing based on this is at their own risk