CNBC Anchor Mulls Investor 'Upside' Of Trump Civilizational Threat

After pouring money into President Donald Trump's successful campaign to take back the White House, US fossil fuel industry executives cashed in on his and Israel's war on Iran with record-setting stock sales, according to a VerityData analysis reported on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.

“Much of the selling for the first quarter began before the US and Israel began bombing Iran on February 28,” and some“were prearranged under plans that allow executives to sell stock automatically at specific times or share prices without making in-the-moment decisions that could leave them open to allegations of improper trading,” the newspaper acknowledged.

However, as share prices for the industry skyrocketed, executives at Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Diamondback Energy, and other oil and gas companies collectively sold $1.4 billion in stock.

“At nearly a dozen companies, the number of executives selling in the quarter reached or surpassed 10-year records, and in some cases set all-time records,” the Journal detailed.“The sales hit a 15-year peak, with nearly six executives selling for every one that bought shares in the first quarter-well over double the usual ratio.”

“CEOs stood out as big sellers in many cases,” the newspaper highlighted, noting that“Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth sold some $104 million worth of shares between January and March. ConocoPhillips's Ryan Lance netted about $54.3 million in share sales in March alone. Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of oil field services company Baker Hughes, sold about $33 million worth of stock that same month.”

VerityData's head of research, Ben Silverman, said that“it speaks to the opportunistic behavior of everyone involved – it could be opportunistic set months earlier, it could be opportunistic in the moment.” He added:“There was a breathlessness to the selling, and the message they sent was to cash in now because the ride won't last forever.”

In her Heated newsletter, climate journalist Emily Atkin pointed out that“this isn't the first time a small group of extraordinarily wealthy oil CEOs used a war to make themselves richer. In the weeks after President Joe Biden said that he was 'convinced ' Russia would invade Ukraine in 2022, Big Oil CEOs sold almost $99 million worth of shares, according to an analysis by Friends of the Earth and BailoutWatch.”

According to Atkin:

The Journal reporting came on the heels of Trump and Iran agreeing to a fragile two-week ceasefire negotiated by Pakistan late Tuesday. While Israel is supposedly on board, it escalated attacks on Lebanon on Wednesday.

As a Pakistani official publicly reiterated that Lebanon is still part of the deal and Iran threatened to back out altogether, Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher with the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Common Dreams that Israel's assault“appeared to be a direct attempt to blow up the ceasefire, and it worked.”

Meanwhile, although oil prices dropped after the ceasefire announcement,“'fossilflation '-or inflation caused by volatile and rising prices of oil and gas-is still likely to continue,” the global climate group 350 warned on Wednesday.