Iran Risk Hands Oil Algos Early Test After Three-Year Slump (1)

Algorithmic traders have racked up a third straight year of losses in oil, the longest slump on record, with hopes for a turnaround in 2026 facing an early test amid geopolitical volatility.

Price swings sparked by tariffs and wider upheaval from Iran to Ukraine last year starved market players known as commodity-trading advisers, or CTAs, of the clear directional signals they need to profit. The algorithmic traders suffered their longest annual losing streak last year in data going back to 2000, according to analytics firm Kpler. CTAs, which seize on trends, are notorious for amplifying price moves in either ...