-
Trump Media’s leadership seems convinced that short sellers are manipulating their stocks.
-
The company wants the help of the Nasdaq to investigate whether there is ‘naked’ short selling.
-
CEO Devin Nunes is attempting to crack down on short sellers betting on the company.
Former President Donald Trump’s media company is doubling down on claims that something fishy is going on with its stock — and wants Nasdaq’s help in the investigation.
In another letter to Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, Devin Nunes – the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group – expressed concerns about “manipulation” on Tuesday.
Nunes wants to investigate whether “Wall Street insiders” are engaging in “naked” short selling of the shares, which trade under the DJT ticker. Illegal naked short sales involve shares that have not actually been borrowed.
He and Trump Media have tried to crack down on short sellers betting on Truth Social — which many of its supporters blame for its bumpy performance.
Nunes first wrote to Friedman in April as his company was hit by “non-delivery” – which he said was the result of naked short sales. FTDs rose in May, Nunes wrote on Tuesday.
As a result, he wants to obtain trading information from 13 financial companies. He said in the letter that he made the request to Congress and wanted Nasdaq to “fully cooperate with any congressional or other investigations into these companies.”
“Nasdaq is committed to the principles of liquidity, transparency and integrity in all of our markets,” a spokesperson told BI. “We have long advocated 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.”
One of the firms, Citadel Securities, previously called Nunes a “loser” for attributing Trump Media’s losses to shorts.
Trump Media stock has been on a rollercoaster since its initial public offering in March. In its most recent earnings report, the company said it lost $327 million last quarter.
Despite heavy losses and paltry reported earnings, the stock has soared in value, thanks in part to meme stock buyers and supporters of Trump, who owns the lion’s share of the company.
As of Wednesday, Trump Media had a market cap of about $8 billion.
Read the original article on Business Insider
