Oil Turmoil Rattles $134 Billion Complex of Quant Trades

The rapid surge in oil prices unleashed by conflict in the Middle East is jolting one of the most popular systematic strategies touted by big banks on Wall Street.

The trade, known as commodity curve carry, goes short on near-dated futures for raw materials and long on contracts expiring later. The idea is to easily profit from the tendency of longer-dated futures to trade at a higher price to account for the costs of storage and transportation.