Of the four jets they hijacked, they selected planes from only American Airlines and United Airlines. Brokers Business at brokerage firms like Bear and Stearns and Morgan Stanley has slowed dramatically because the market was shut down. There was an unusual rise in oil and gold prices, which suggested that people were taking positions before the attacks. This bet worked well as oil prices then soared another 13 per cent within 24 hours of the attacks. The terrorists showed their financial sophistication by allegedly using the options markets to place bets on share prices declining.
Options give leverage, which make huge bets possible with only a little money.
For commodities, the terrorists could have gained by buying oil futures, which are promises to buy oil at a set price in the future. Next, the terrorists would have to cover their trail by trading through well-known money laundering countries. The seven largest industrialised nations set up a task force 10 years ago to find the countries which set up banking havens to launder and hide money. There are 15 countries on the Financial Action Task Force blacklist. Most are small Caribbean island nations, but they hide billions of dollars.