In mid-July, the Pennsylvania assassination attempt against Donald Trump whipped up a media frenzy, further fueled by the revelation of an unusually large reported short position, hinting at the possibility of a far grander conspiracy.
Specifically, July filings revealed that Austin Private Wealth, LLC, a Texas-based financial planning company, had created a massive 12 million shares short position on Trump Media (NASDAQ: DJT) using put options just one day before the attack.
The shocking 2024 DJT short that likely never happened
As shocking as the revelation was, it swiftly took an unexpected turn when the company issued an apology and a statement claiming that the seemingly immense bet against Trump Media stock was the result of a filing error.
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Indeed, Austin Private Wealth claimed the figure resulted from ‘a multiplier (that) was applied by a third-party vendor that increased the number of the shares by a multiple of 10,000 for all options contracts (not just DJT).’
We deeply regret this error and the concern it has caused, especially at such a fraught moment for our nation. We are committed to full transparency and maintaining the trust of our clients. As such, we are reviewing our internal procedures and our processes with the third-party vendor that assists with SEC filings to better understand how this happened and avoid similar issues moving forward.
As shock gave way to scrutiny, multiple observers noticed that the short position was in place already on the final day of June but that the filing date – July 12 – came much later, with the document getting unfortunately published just a day ahead of the Pennsylvania rally.
Whatever the complete truth of the event may be, and whether there is more yet to be uncovered or not, depending on the specifics of the options contracts, the DJT short position that was confirmed to have existed might have paid off.
Was the late June Trump Media short profitable?
Though trading in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt – marked by Donald Trump’s perceived strength in the face of death – created a short squeeze as it led to a 70% Trump Media surge in the first pre-market session following the attack, the rally proved relatively short-lived.
In fact, it was followed by a protracted period of decline, which grew increasingly severe as Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic party candidate, eventually taking DJT shares from July highs above $40 to September lows near $12.
The stock subsequently came to life once more as the election was drawing closer, and Trump Media had a veritable renaissance when it arguably became a form of a wager the Republican would win, even rising to late October highs above $50.
Finally, despite Trump Media shares plummeting almost as soon as Trump was declared victorious in the 2024 Presidential Race, the firm’s ups and downs last year resulted in relatively strong returns as the 12-month chart reveals them to be, at their press time price of $34.10, 95.42% in the green.
