Trump Media, gun stocks surge after assassination attempt
Al Jazeera
Markets are betting on Donald Trump returning as president in the upcoming US elections.
Crypto stocks, gun stocks and shares of other companies that could benefit from a Donald Trump presidency are up after an assassination attempt on the Republican candidate boosted expectations he would win the November election.
Trump’s survival after he was shot in the ear during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday increased his already considerable lead in betting odds on Monday over United States President Joe Biden.
On politics wagering website PredictIt, contracts for a Trump election victory traded at 68 cents on Monday, up from 60 cents on Friday, with a potential payout of $1. Contracts for a Biden victory were at 26 cents.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, majority-owned by Trump, soared 30 percent, lifting the company’s stock market value to $7.6bn, despite its revenue being comparable to that of two Starbucks stores in the US.
Trump Media is the parent company of social media platform Truth Social, and its shares have now surged 129 percent in 2024 as retail traders bet Trump will win a second term as US president. He previously served from 2017 to 2021.
