Trump’s Truth Social costliest US stock to bet against after wild public debut
NY Post
The Donald Trump-tied media firm behind “Truth Social” became the most expensive US stock for investors to bet against after surging in its public trading debut – even as finance experts warned it is another highly volatile “meme stock” like AMC or GameStop.
Truth Media & Technology Group, which trades on Nasdaq under the former president’s initials DJT, spiked 16% to $66.77 per share in early trading on Wednesday.
That’s after the stock closed 16% higher to end a wild trading session that saw the shares soar as much as 60% following its public debut via SPAC merger one day earlier.
The stock’s early success — despite Truth Social’s money-losing track record and paltry revenue — has made it an attractive bet for short sellers, who profit when stocks fall by borrowing shares then selling them at a lower price, returning them and pocketing the difference.
“There is huuuuge conviction (Trump pun intended) on the short-side that there will be a significant decline in its stock price in the short term,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at data analytics firm S3 Partners,
As of Tuesday, the Truth Social parent was “the most shorted SPAC in the US” with a whopping $168.6 million of short interest and 3.37 million shares shorted, according to S3.
