A quick update on activities related to DJT, and while, yes, DJT’s price has leapt upwards since Monday’s $18.88 to $22.04, or a 16% increase over four days, that’s not the activity of interest. Instead, Globe Newswire (via yahoo! finance) has this news release from Trump Media and Technology Group Corp, aka TMTG, concerning a letter it sent to the SEC:
This letter serves to inform you of suspicious activity related to a disclosure filed in Germany by the U.K.-based hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies (“Qube”). The following data points raise critical questions about the timing and methods used in Qube’s trading activities:
- On April 10, 2025, Qube disclosed a nearly six-million share short position in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (“TMTG”) (NASDAQ, NYSE Texas: DJT). Thus, a U.K.-based entity, with a data center in Iceland, only disclosed these short sales in Germany.
- According to Nasdaq, the total short interest in DJT as of March 31, 2025, was 10.7 million shares (see attached chart). Third party sources inform TMTG that the total short interest as of April 16, 2025, is virtually unchanged—approximately 11 million shares.
- Neither Nasdaq, NYSE Texas, nor any other source has been able to confirm when the trades disclosed by Qube were conducted or if they were conducted at all.
The above factors, especially when combined with the history of suspicious trading surrounding DJT stock—including DJT appearing on Nasdaq’s Regulation SHO Threshold Security List continuously for more than two months in 2024—could be indications of the illegal naked short selling of DJT shares.
And etc. Unfortunately, I do not have experience in interpreting this letter, but its mere existence suggests DJT is a ping pong ball in a high stakes international game. Short selling requires the price of a stock to decline in order for the short seller to make money, so the latest price increase suggests the short seller is currently losing.
But don’t take my word for it. I’m an interested, amateur bystander in this mess – only. Heck, I had to go look up naked short selling:
Naked short selling is a notorious trading practice that has been largely banned in the U.S. and EU since the 2007-2008 crisis. But that doesn’t mean the practice still doesn’t occur. It was banned because naked short selling is when the seller sells securities they do not own or have not borrowed, which leads to a lack of supply for the shorted securities and a potential drop in the price.
The aim is to profit from a decline in the asset’s price by later buying the shares at a lower cost to cover the short position. This is different from traditional short selling when you borrow the shares before selling them.
Which explains assertions of illegality.
But I suspect there’s a lot to this story. I hope I learn more.
