Ultimate inside trading?

Guys with lots of money usually have better intel than your average Joe. Makes you wonder what this person/group knows that we don't:

A mystery trader risks losing around $1 billion dollars after placing 245,000 put options on the Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index, leading many analysts to speculate that a stock market crash preceded by a new 9/11 style catastrophe could take place within the next month. The anonymous trader only stands to make money if the market crashes by a third to a half before September 21st, which is when the put options expire. A put option is a financial contract between two parties, the buyer and the writer (seller) of the option, in which the buyer stands to benefit only if the price of the asset falls. "The sales are being referred to by market traders as "bin Laden trades" because only an event on the scale of 9-11 could make these short-sell options valuable," reports financial blogger Marc Parent. Dow Jones Financial News first reported on the story.

Since the Feds are prying into everybody's business these days, I certainly hope they're watching this particular transaction. Bin Laden and his crew are known to be fascinated by Western systems of finance and infrastructure. I wouldn't put it past them (or some other hostile group) to plan a way to profit financially in the aftermath to a new event. As they say, "follow the money..."

(HT: Ken, who sent me the link a couple days ago. I've only now fully digested what's available on the story thus far. Thanks.)