You have commented 358 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
A Huge Financial Bet Against Donald Trump's Company Was Made Before the Assassination Attempt
2024-07-18

[Igor Chudov Substack] Must be a coincidence, right?
[ You mean like when the airline industry was heavily shorted just before 9/11?]
Donald Trump is a significant owner of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) shares. That publicly traded entity operates Truth Social, a pro-Trump social network in which Mr. Trump owns 78.8 million shares. The network's business plan is to be the hangout for like-minded Trump fans who want to be the first to read their favorite politician’s announcements and socialize.

Like other stocks, many people buy and sell shares of DJT for various reasons. However, an interesting financial bet stands out. A little-known private financial firm reported initiating an unusually large short position by buying put options for the nominal amount of 12,000,000 shares.

So, on July 12th, a day before the assassination attempt, Austin Private Wealth reported a short position nominally equivalent to 12 million shares. It is huge: it represents approximately one-seventh of Trump’s ownership in the same company, or 16% of all available stock float not held by major insiders....

What do we know about this odd financial bet? One thing to note is that it was made sometime before it was reported on the 13F filing: form 13F must be filed after the end of the quarter, and in this case, refers to the position as of the end of the second quarter, or 6/30/2024....

Posted by:DooDahMan

#14  The company released a statement. Turns out it was a 3rd party vendor they used to file financial activity and they made the error with them and multiple other investing companies in the report by boosting the numbers. The company only sold 12 shares (1,200 shorts). The reporting data on the federal website was corrected.
Posted by: DarthVader   2024-07-18 17:02  

#13  Actually, 1/5000th is a common speed with modern digital mirrorless cameras in full sun. They got it all over DLR's and SLR's. They can shoot it like a movie, as long as you got the memory.
Posted by: ed in texas   2024-07-18 16:15  

#12  Check his history. He took another “iconic” photo as well.
Posted by: Cravirt Poodle4329   2024-07-18 13:34  

#11  Cesare - In my circle, they believe the photographer had to be in on it. Because he had anticipated the shot, we deduce the journalist was there to capture Trumps Brain Exploding Live on TV.

No photographer casually keeps their camera's aperture at 1/8000. But this guy did. Very sus as the kids say.

8000 = 1/8000 second exposure (the shutter opens and closes within one eight-thousands of a second). You may have noticed that even though a one-second exposure seems very fast, it's actually a very slow shutter speed compared to 1/4000's of a second, or 1/8000's of a second.

You only set your aperture to 8000 unless you are anticipating a certain shot.
Posted by: mossomo   2024-07-18 13:12  

#10  One outlier, like an assassination attempt, by its self is a coincidence. Two outliers occurring together are usually linked.

This trade move was an unprecedented short in regards to volume for the stock, and this was also if I am reading things correctly, this was the largest short by Austine Private Wealth.
Posted by: mossomo   2024-07-18 12:58  

#9  Epstein Conundrum: when all the mistakes fall in the direction that benefits the DS.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2024-07-18 11:46  

#8  I've been long and short as well with fairly predictable results, so probably lots of people have seen the same thing. The coincidental nature of a single trade isn't the question.

There seem to be lots of coincidences. Evidently this was the first and only rally that CNN televised. Who knows? A one off, obviously.

Then there was the question Michael Yon raised. I have some mixed feelings about the man and have only met him incidentally at most. But he made an interesting point about the now famous photo of the bullet caught mid-air and the speed necessary for that kind of capture. Seems like 'overkill' for an afternoon political rally in the summer. Probably a one off, right?

Then there is the Keystone cop performance at the rally. What's even to say since more revelations come out by the minute.

Past a certain point in Life, adult operating assumptions come into play whether you want them to or not. There is simply too much here and they are signalling, for the moment anyway, they have no intention to answer up.

Come to your own conclusions.
Posted by: Cesare   2024-07-18 11:07  

#7  Just out of curiosity... What was Pelosi's position?
Posted by: Mercutio   2024-07-18 09:39  

#6  Was it part of some big conspiracy?
Don't know, doubt it.
But I hope they loose a $hit pot of money over it.
Posted by: ed in texas   2024-07-18 08:54  

#5  The smell simply won't go away.
Posted by: Besoeker   2024-07-18 08:33  

#4  𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Austin Private Wealth with CONNECTIONS to the Bush family shorted 12M shares of $DJT via a put option on July 12, just ONE DAY before the assassination attempt. Did the Bush's know something was going to happen to Donald Trump? This massive trade represents 6% of total shares and over 16% of the float, given Trump’s 60% ownership. Their $1B AUM makes this a significant bet. Austin Private Wealth is connected to the Bush family through James A. Baker III, a Senior Policy Director with longstanding ties to the Bushes, having served as Secretary of State under George H.W.
Posted by: AB    2024-07-18 08:17  

#3  qui bono?
Posted by: irish rage boy   2024-07-18 07:51  

#2  BIG for a coincidence though.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2024-07-18 06:09  

#1  I think it was a coincidence. In fact, I've shorted DJT stock a few times. DJT pops on Trump news, then you short it. Easy money (relatively).
Posted by: DooDahMan   2024-07-18 04:49  

00:00