Twitter Death Rumor Leads to Spike in Oil Prices

On Monday at 9:59 a.m. ET, a Twitter account claiming to represent Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev posted a tweet that eventually sparked a $1 price hike for crude-oil futures.

The first tweet from @MiniInterRussia, which has since been deleted, said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had been killed or injured. Two following tweets claimed that his death had been confirmed.

The market was quick to respond. Just 16 minutes after the first tweet, futures for light, sweet crude started to increase, topping out at $91.99 a barrel by 10:45 a.m.

"A well-placed story can move the market, and that looks like what happened," Price Futures Group Analyst Phil Flynn told T…
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