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Trump Media tells Nasdaq short sellers may be using “potential market manipulation” in DJT shares
Trump Media & Technology Group is alerting the Nasdaq exchange that its stock — trading under the ticker DJT, after former President Donald Trump’s initials — may be the victim of “potential market manipulation” due to short-selling activity.
The letter, which was sent Thursday to Nasdaq CEO Adena T. Friedman, claims that some traders are relying on so-called “naked” short selling, which is when an investor shorts a stock without first borrowing the shares. It’s a practice that is effectively banned in the U.S., with regulators requiring trading firms to make sure that traders have the securities on hand to complete a short sale.
The complaint comes after a wild ride for Trump Media’s stock since going public last month on the Nasdaq exchange. The shares lost two-thirds of their value from an initial peak, slicing billions of value from the fledgling media business, whose primary asset is the social media service Truth Social.
While Trump Media has regained some of that lost ground, rising 20% this week through Monday morning trading, some investors had complained on Truth Social that they suspected short sellers were contributing to the decline.
“Reports indicate that, as of April 3, 2024, DJT was ‘by far’ ‘the most expensive U.S. stock to short,’ meaning that brokers have a significant financial incentive to lend non-existent shares,” Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman from California, wrote to April 18 letter to the Nasdaq CEO.
Nunes asked for Nasdaq to “advise what steps you can take to foster transparency and compliance by ensuring market makers are adhering” to regulations that block naked short selling.
Nasdaq is “committed to the principles of liquidity, transparency and integrity in all our markets,” the said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, the stock exchange said.
“We have long been an advocate of transparency in short selling and have been an active supporter of the SEC’s rules and enforcement efforts designed to monitor and prohibit naked short selling,” it added.
Short selling, which is legal, occurs when a trader borrows shares of a stock they believe will lose value, and then immediately sells the borrowed shares on the market for cash proceeds. Later on, if the stock price falls, the trader purchases that stock at the lower price, and returns the shares to their trading firm, pocketing the difference in value. The short seller’s goal is to purchase the stock at a lower price than the borrowed shares, in order to profit from its decline.
But “naked” short selling, which is illegal in the U.S. if done intentionally, skips the step where the trader borrows shares of the stock. Naked shorts can lead to large declines in a target company’s stock price, while also undermining market confidence, according to law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.