A multi-layered combination, one could say.

I also talked about the topic of 9/11 insider trading with one of the world's leading practitioners at the interface between the international capital markets, the national security policy of the US as well as geopolitics, James G Rickards. He gave me some answers in a personal discussion, which I am allowed to repeat here with his expressed approval.

Question: Did suspicious trading activities of uncovered put options on futures markets occur shortly before 9/11?

James G Rickards: Well, the trading documents certainly look suspicious. It is simply a fact that an unusually high volume of purchases of put-options for the two airlines occurred over the three trading days before the attacks. This is a mere fact, no speculation, no guessing around. This is clearly obvious from the documents of the trading sessions on the derivatives exchanges.

Question: Do you think that the intelligence agencies could have got a warning signal based on this information?

James G Rickards: Theoretically that is possible, if are you are looking and watching out for this. But there was far more significant information, which was ignored.

Question: Do you also think that some people with foreknowledge operated speculatively in the option markets?

James G Rickards: Based on the documentation of the trading session it seems that this has been the case, yes.

Let's sum up a bit at the end. We have, among other things:
The "nice detective work" by Kevin Ryan related to Stratesec/Wirt Walker III.
Some highly inconsistent information vis-a-vis Convar/illegal credit card transactions.
Scientific papers supporting the allegations that there were indeed unusual trading activities in the option market before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, although the 9/11 Commission (based on the investigation of the SEC and the FBI) ruled that possibility out.

As it became clear that I would publish this article here at Asia Times Online, I contacted the US Federal Bureau of Investigation via its press spokesman Paul Bresson in order "to give the FBI the opportunity to give a public statement with regards to three specific issues". Those three specific issues were the ones I have just highlighted. Related to each of them I've asked Mr Bresson/the FBI: "Could you comment on this for the public, please?" Up to this moment, Mr Bresson/the FBI did not respond to my inquiry in any way whatsoever. Does this come as a surprise?

I've also got back in touch with "ars publicandi", the firm that does public relations for Convar in Germany. The response said: "Unfortunately I have to inform you that the status has not changed, and that Convar considers the issue of 9/11 as dead in general."

As you have read, the status in August of last year was slightly different.

At the end of this article, I should perhaps mention that this research ultimately led to negative consequences for me. After I contacted the FBI, I was informed by the publisher of a German financial website, for which I conducted interviews for a professional fee (and had already prepared more work), that no further cooperation was possible. Now that I will come in one way or another into the focus of the FBI, any association with me would be undesirable.

Well, you know the rules.

As far as the abnormal option trades around 9/11 are concerned, I want to give Max Keiser the last word in order to point out the significance of the story.

Max Keiser: Regardless of who did it, we can know that more than a few had advance warning - the trading in the option market makes that clear.