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All out of GFF for a 3% loss.
Who Is Buying DJT Stock? It’s a Mystery.
By
Matt Peterson
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Updated April 11, 2024, 2:29 am EDT / Original April 10, 2024, 11:29 am EDT
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DJT
Former President Donald Trump owns 57% of Trump Media, the parent of social media network Truth Social. SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group have traded on heavy volume since former President Donald Trump’s new media company took over the ticker DJT
DJT
-4.24%
on March 26. Who, or what, is behind that market action?
Plenty of people are asking because of the potential for the company to affect the November presidential election. But there is no reliable way to answer the question for Trump Media or any other stock. That’s because public disclosure regulations provide a limited and belated look at stock ownership.
To stick with the Trump Media example, the company began trading under DJT after it completed a merger with a blank-check company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., which was already listed. Trump Media operates the social-media network Truth Social, which it launched in 2022. Former President Donald Trump owns 57% of DJT stock, but is constrained by a lockup agreement from selling shares before late September.
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Trump Media has about 600,000 retail investors, chief executive Devin Nunes told Fox News on April 7. Individuals aren’t required to disclose their stake in a company unless they acquire more than 5% of the shares. No one has made such a filing for DJT.
Institutional investors with assets above $100 million are required to disclose some holdings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, via a regulatory filing known as a 13F. A number of firms have disclosed such holdings related to Trump Media, but the information is stale by the time a 13F is filed, and such holdings might imply something other than the intent to profit off the stock’s rise or fall.
13F forms are filed quarterly, 45 days after the last day of the quarter, and show only what was held on that last day. That means ownership of DJT isn’t available yet. The latest filings, dated Dec. 31, reflect holdings in DWAC, the blank-check company that later combined with Trump Media.
Barron’s reached out to some of DWAC’s larger holders to learn more.
Sapient Capital was the fifth-largest institutional stockholder as of Dec. 31. Sapient is a registered investment advisor headquartered in Indianapolis, and disclosed holdings on behalf of its clients, who remain anonymous. “As an RIA [registered investment advisor] we are not in a position to publicly comment on individual stocks, our clients’ holdings, or the markets in general,” Max Rijkenberg, Sapient’s chief legal officer, said in an email.
Another advisory firm that disclosed a stake said it doesn’t recommend its clients hold individual stocks, including Trump Media, although one or more clients apparently owned shares at the end of last year. Yet another firm has already sold the shares disclosed in its Dec. 31 filing.
The first quarter ended on March 31, so new disclosures are required before May 15. The disclosure regime was created by Congress in the 1970s, and the reporting threshold and frequency haven’t been updated since.
A Trump Media spokeswoman declined to answer questions about the company’s investor base. “The backbone of Truth Social is hundreds of thousands of small investors who believe in our mission and support a free-speech alternative to Big Tech,” the spokeswoman said.
The disclosure system can also be misleading when it comes to high-frequency trading firms, including those known as market makers. They exist to facilitate others’ trading, but disclosures can make it seem as though they are making a bet on the direction of a stock.
That appears to have been the case with Susquehanna International Group, a financial firm co-founded by Jeff Yass. Susquehanna disclosed holding more than 2% of DWAC’s shares as of Dec. 31. Trump recently met with Yass, Trump told CNBC, prompting ethics experts to ask whether Susquehanna’s position in the stock gave the investor leverage over the candidate.
But as a market maker, Susquehanna’s full positions aren’t clearly expressed in its 13F filings. Those filings don’t show short positions, which the company previously said it also has, and which allow it, as a market maker, to remain neutral on the stock’s outlook. Susquehanna’s involvement in DWAC was intended to provide liquidity to other traders who want to bet one way or the other. It and other similar firms don’t usually make active decisions about which stocks they make markets for.
Susquehanna doesn’t vote on shareholder questions, according to a person familiar with the company.
A disclosure form focused on one moment and only on certain types of trading doesn’t capture the complexity of a market maker’s role. Instead, in this case, it makes Susquehanna look like it is taking an active interest in Trump Media.
Institutional investors who are taking positions can also game their disclosures, says Alexander Platt, a law professor at the University of Kansas who has studied 13F disclosures.
“You can own a stock for 89 days, sell it on the 90th day, and then buy it again on the 91st day. Then you look like you don’t own it because disclosure captures a snapshot of what you held at 5 p.m. [on the day the filing is dated],” Platt said. “Economically, that’s a weird trading strategy. But if your goal somehow is to evade the disclosure regime, that’s easy to do.”
There is no evidence anyone is trading in DJT that way.
There is one group of DJT buyers whose trading is relatively transparent: members of Congress. They report a range for the value of their holdings along with the day on which they made a purchase or sale. That’s how we know two Republicans, Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have at times owned Trump Media, individually or jointly with their spouses.
But these disclosures also have their limits. Online databases that capture Congressional stockholdings suggest that Greene jointly purchased DWAC stock in 2021 and still holds it. But that isn’t the case, her spokesman said. “Congresswoman Greene does not hold any stocks as reflected on her financial disclosure,” he said.
Greene’s 2022 financial disclosure includes a footnote: “In connection with a change in marital status, certain assets previously reported as being held by Congresswoman Greene are no longer reportable as assets.” That disclosure lists no holdings in DWAC.
Bucshon’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The bottom line is that we aren’t likely to get a complete picture of who’s buying or selling Trump Media stock—or any other stock—under current regulations.
Write to Matt Peterson at matt.peterson@dowjones.com
Birds of a feather flock together:
https://www.aol.com/trump-media-director-accused-hacking-212944841.html
How would a tax added onto the what people buy, excepts food and energy?
Dangle the bait for the poor and less educated and then after they get him in office yank it away. Yep, that is par.
Earnings were good for JPM, but forecast on expenses higher=stock is dropping nearly 5%.
JPM is down nearly $7.00, even though reporting a beat in earnings.
Investors are getting more concerned as the Fear and Greed Indicator dropped from Greed to Neutral.
Sold Puts: DUOL 1. Most stocks were not at the levels where I would feel comfortable selling insurance on them.
Bought back Puts: VRT 10, RCL 5.
Bought back Calls: SBLK 5, VTNR 30.
Sold Calls: PFE 15, O 12, GPS 5, COP 4, BTI two round trips today.
As long as they attack each other I can live with that.
Fortunately, Elroy. 😁
Can we bring our debt down if EVERYONE pays 5% more taxes per year and the budget will not increase?
Is she really that dense or she simply likes and talks to the "uneducated masses" for their votes?
According to epi.org, raising taxes alone could stabilize the debt ratio at today's level, as has been the case in the past and for other rich nations. A model estimated that a tax hike would raise over $1.9 trillion over a decade, reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio by 4 percentage points. Over the long run, Biden's tax hikes would lower the debt-to-GDP ratio by 14 percentage points.
Some say that tax hikes alone are rarely enough to stimulate the economy and pay down debt. High marginal tax rates can discourage work, saving, investment, and innovation, while specific tax preferences can affect the allocation of economic resources. However, lower taxes raise disposable income, allowing the consumer to spend more, which increases the gross domestic product (GDP)
We had lower PPI numbers this morning than anticipated, y/y and m/m. In addition some of the CPI numbers were pushed higher by shelter and auto insurance costs, but these two are backward looking indicators. Thus, these two and the lower PPI numbers should be lowering inflation numbers in the next reports.
There are old traders and bold traders, but not bold old traders.
Now is time for patience and nibbling little ones, until the markets get used to the idea of fewer cuts or no cuts, perhaps, as well as the Middle East continuation.
Other trades. Sold Puts: DUOL 1, RCL 5, DVA 3
Bought back Calls: COP 4 rt, NTLA 1, PFE 15, YEXT 20, CVS 4, MCD 1, BTI 10, CYBR 1, BMBL 25. OLLI 1.
Not a bad day for me.
Consumer stocks are sliding into the close, as the markets came off their lows.
Sadly the whole crew does not mind bankrupting the country as long as they can be in power.
My feeling is that I would not want to the skipper of a sinking ship, I rather be third mate or a cabin boy on well run ship.
Even this is not helping O hang in there, as it is declining worse than the average stock, 4.4%.
646th Consecutive Common Stock Monthly Dividend Declared by Realty Income
I maybe buying back the 12 Covered Calls I sold at 35 cents for 25 or less before the day is out.
Closed GH for a 15% loss.
Has the US national debt ever been paid off?
By January of 1835, for the first and only time, all of the government's interest-bearing debt was paid off. Congress distributed the surplus to the states (many of which were heavily in debt). The Jackson administration ended with the country almost completely out of debt!
Goldman Sachs Expects U.S. Federal Reserve To Start Cutting Interest Rates In July Vs Prior Forecast Of June
BENZINGA 11:40 AM ET 4/10/2024
-Reuters
Since BKNG was a larger investment than some of them, when I just saw the market going south again I got out of it for a gain.
I wonder how our economy will go in as we , if we try to pay our debts of trillions? A bankrupt America is not not a happy future.
Long in BKNG, APB, AMH, FND and BMRN.
Bought back PFE 15 calls and NTLA 1.
Sold DUOL 1 Put.
Until I see how deep is the water I will venture in slowly, with small bet.
The SPX probably will not pull back below the 50day/ma at 5100, as I expect buyers to come ib.
I will be selling puts after the open.
DJI is down over 400 points in reaction to hotter than hoped for inflation data.
Revising my list.
Trades today as the order of the day was preserve cash since we could get bad news tomorrow on the inflation front and also from Israel any day. Those could be buying the dip opportunities for me.
Round trip Puts: ANET 5 and RCL 5.
Bought back Puts in GPS 5.
Re priced Covered Calls to buy back 20% below where sold a few days ago. I think we can see this market go lower still.
Bought back: VRT 5, AXON 1, GFF 5, IBP 2, so far.
Not sure, but some say buy AAPL here, I will not be interested before 150. I wait and see if Samsung will use AI before AAPL.
Trades today.
Sold Covered Calls: COP 4 and bought back later in afternoon, MCD 1 also rt, CTKB 5, PODD 1.
Bought back Covered Calls: VKTX 5, SBLK 5.
Bought back Puts: ANET 5.
Sold Puts: VRT 10.
Focus today was to save cash for the market drop.
As the 10yearT hears a yield of 4.80% it may start making it harder for stocks to move up.
Opened COP at 133.14.
https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/03/06/4-stocks-if-gulp-israel-attacks-iran.aspx
It was published a month ago, but imo it is very timely especially after Israel hit the embassy.
Whenever a major, new situation occurs that could affect the markets, I like to do as deep a research as possible. Especially into stocks that may drop the most and also ones that may recover faster. Then, I assemble my list and raise cash and wait, patiently.
Adding to a few oil drillers and major oils, I think oil could easily hit $100 if there is a war.
I expect for Iran to strike back this week. I am prepared for plan a and plan b.
Plan A: raise cash into the sounds of bugles.
Plan B: wait and watch how it escalates(hopefully it will not).