analysis

Journalist Barak Ravid draws range of criticism from Wall Street to Marjorie Taylor Greene

Published May 9, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)

Oil pumps and graph (Photo illustration by bymuratdeniz / Getty Images)

Over the past several weeks, Axios has repeatedly reported that a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran was either “close,” “imminent” or nearing completion. On Wednesday, a little over an hour before Axios reporter Barak Ravid published a scoop claiming the White House believed it was close to reaching a one-page memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the war, nearly 10,000 crude oil contracts — worth approximately $920 million in notional value — were sold on the futures market by traders betting the price of oil was about to fall. According to data highlighted by trading surveillance accounts like The Kobeissi Letter , whoever placed those bets stood to make an estimated $125 million as oil prices collapsed more than 12%.

Then the reality of the war hit.…