Though the stock of Trump Media (NASDAQ: DJT) is, by press time, still having a positive 2024, being more than 30% in the green in the year-to-date (YTD) chart, its recent performance has been tumultuous.
Indeed, along with a 41.72% decline in the last 30 days of trading – a decline only likely to grow more severe following a weak second quarter (Q2) earnings report and another skipped earnings call – short interest has been steadily growing for the shares in recent weeks.
Per the latest data available at the time of publication in early trading of August 13, short interest for DJT has risen to 8,282,108 shares – 12% of the stock’s total float. Such a number means that July saw a 58.66% increase as, at the end of June, short interest stood at 5,219,586.
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The increase in short positions against Trump Media and the company’s stock market slump can both be attributed to the $16.4 million quarterly loss it recently unveiled, but also Donald Trump’s changing prospects in the 2024 presidential race.
Though the republican candidate has been polling substantially better than incumbent Joe Biden, the introduction of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic party nominee has substantially changed the dynamic and again made the elections suspenseful.
DJT stock short interest and the Trump assassination attempt
Short interest in DJT has also been finding itself in the news frequently in recent months and was even, in the immediate aftermath of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life, the focal point of a controversy.
A major money manager, Austin Private Wealth, appeared to have made a massive 12 million put option bet against Trump media only a day ahead of the attack in Pennsylvania, sparking multiple conspiracy theories for days. The company, however, soon after its apparently odd trade found itself in numerous headlines, explained it was vastly blown out of proportion due to a large clerical error.
Trump’s political allies suffer major losses on DJT stock market decline
Along with regular investors, some of former president Trump’s political allies have also found themselves losing substantial amounts of money due to the stock market decline of DJT shares.
By the August 13 premarket, Representative Marjory Taylor Greene was reported as having lost 80% of her $50,000 investment in Trump Media that she had made in 2021. At the time the politician made the purchase, DJT shares were worth approximately $67, while Trump media stock price today, at press time, stands at $23.65.
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