As the first casualties of negative oil prices crawl from the wreckage of the US oil market, one of the wildest trading days in history looks to have been a one-sided fight.
Small-time retail investors and day traders, attracted to what they hoped was a one-way bet on oil’s eventual recovery from the coronavirus crisis, have emerged as some of the biggest losers from Monday’s carnage, with the world’s top commodity traders and oil funds standing victorious.
Banks and brokerages from Connecticut to China have rushed to suspend oil-linked retail funds, leaving customers nursing bruising losses following US crude’s biggest one-day crash and its first foray below zero.