Some days prior to the September 11 attacks, puts were purchased in large
amounts for both American Airlines and United Airlines, thus making a
large bet that those stocks would decline sharply in the near-term.
Did the 9/11
Commission (or anyone else) investigate who made these purchases and
if they had any knowledge of what was to occur on 9/11?

Hello seekingknowledge,

The 9/11 Commission did investigate these issues.  In an appendix to a
report on terrorist financing, 9/11 Commission staff concluded that
trades in American Airlines and United Airlines securities, or other
securities, prior to September 11, 2001 were not based on
foreknowledge of the terrorist attacks.

"Monograph on Terrorist Financing: Staff Report to the Commission," by
John Roth, Douglas Greenburg, and Serena Wille (Aug. 21, 2004)
["Appendix B: Securities Trading," pp. 145-52]
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/911_TerrFin_App.pdf

See also:

"The 9/11 Commission Report" (July 22, 2004) ["Notes," note 130]
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.htm

Of course, while some accept these findings, others do not.  A good
way to survey analyses and opinions concerning the possibility of
insider trading prior to September 11 is to review some top results
for:

"9/11 commission" "insider trading"
Google
://www.google.com/search?q=%229%2F11+commission%22+%22insider+trading%22

("9/11" OR "september 11") "insider trading"
Google
://www.google.com/search?q=%28%229%2F11%22+OR+%22september+11%22%29+%22insider+trading%22

- justaskscott


Search strategy --

Searched on Google for:

"9/11 commission"

Browsed 9/11 Commission site, and searched it for:

"insider trading"

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 21 Jul 2005 14:46 PDT

Clarification for citation to "9/11 Commission Report" -- the
pertinent note is note 130 to "5 Al Qaeda Aims at the American
Homeland."

This article may be of interest:

http://www.americanfreepress.net/051302/Revealing_9-11_Stock_Trades_Co/revealing_9-11_stock_trades_co.html

A note regarding the source of the article provided by PinkFreud: 

American Free Press is the successor to The Spotlight, a newspaper
published by The Liberty Lobby.

About the Liberty Lobby
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Lobby> 

About The Spotlight
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spotlight> 

About American Free Press
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Free_Press> 

Strange bedfellows, huh?