Traders misunderstood a tweet from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday, panicked and purchased more oil, thus driving prices up by $1 per barrel.
The confusing IDF tweet was about an Israeli air strike on Syria — one that happened 40 years ago. The tweet was in remembrance of the anniversary of the 1973 October War, also known as Yom Kippur War.
Oct. 10 #YomKippur73: Israel Air Force bombards airports in Syria to prevent Soviet weapons reaching the Syrian Army http://t.co/tKnMzYjgFF
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) October 10, 2013
The tweet was marked with the hashtag #YomKippur73 and referred to "Soviet weapons," but somehow, traders around the world missed those two signs and thought it was referring to a current attack on Syria, as first reported by Reuters.
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"Obviously this was part of our Yom Kippur Twitter series. The facts are there and simple to read. It was apparent within the Tweet itself," IDF spokesman Peter Lerner told Reuters.
The traders, who increasingly rely on Twitter as a source of news, started buying oil for fears that the supposed attack would spark an increase in oil prices over the next few days due to a disrupt in supply. Their frenzied response to the tweet drove oil prices up from $110.40 to $111.50 per barrel. Curiously, prices kept going up after that, despite the mistake.
In the trader's defense, this wouldn't be the first time the IDF uses Twitter to announce an air strike. Last year, the IDF, for the first time ever, broke the news of a Gaza strike on Twitter.
Image: David McNew/Getty Images