{"id":440113,"date":"2022-05-01T05:01:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T02:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app\/"},"modified":"2022-05-01T05:01:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T02:01:08","slug":"wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app\/","title":{"rendered":"#Wall Street short sellers target Trump&#8217;s Truth Social app"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a227428694e6\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a227428694e6\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app\/#%E2%80%9CWall_Street_short_sellers_target_Trumps_Truth_Social_app%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Wall Street short sellers target Trump&#8217;s Truth Social app&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app\/#Downloads_way_down\" >Downloads way down\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app\/#Volatile_personalities\" >Volatile personalities\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWall_Street_short_sellers_target_Trumps_Truth_Social_app%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Wall Street short sellers target Trump&#8217;s Truth Social app&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Charles Gasparino\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=152 152w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=114 114w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=38 38w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png 706w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Wall Street traders are telling me they can\u2019t wait for the Securities and Exchange Commission to give the green light to Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company holding former President Donald Trump\u2019s new right-wing <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> alternative named \u201cTruth Social.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s not because they like the stock.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Traders are already eyeing the so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Corp., or SPAC, for the mother of all shorts, betting that shares will eventually fall to penny-stock levels ($5 or less). Part of the pessimism stems from Truth Social\u2019s lousy rollout; it has been plagued by technological glitches and management upheaval since its February launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the possible nail in the coffin for Truth Social is Tesla founder Elon Musk\u2019s bid to take over Twitter. With a net worth of around $250 billion, Musk has agreed to plunk down $44 billion to purchase the financially troubled but influential micro-blogger, making a right-leaning Twitter \u00adalternative like Truth Social largely obsolete.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Musk, recall, predicated his interest on rooting out Twitter\u2019s progressive bias that has been alleged for years by the conservative politicians and commentariat despite vehement denials from Twitter \u00aditself. Many Musk watchers expect him to reinstate Trump and others who had been suspended by Twitter\u2019s PC algorithms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Whether Trump or, say, vaccine skeptic Alex Berenson gets back on the site remains to be seen, of course (Trump has said he\u2019s not interested), but already prominent conservatives in the media who boycotted Twitter are returning to the fold thanks to Musk. They\u2019re also helping to make Wall Street\u2019s bear-case bet against Truth Social.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Downloads_way_down\"><\/span>Downloads way down\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-2.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Trump behind cellphone with Truth app\" class=\"wp-image-22099481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a>s have been falling on the former president\u2019s social media app. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">CHRIS DELMAS\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The biggest appeal of Truth Social, of course, has been Trump, who was booted from Twitter after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. But the former president hasn\u2019t put much effort into the new venture, having made just one post since its launch \u2014 until Thursday, when he posted again on Truth Social, sparking an uptick in downloads for the site. Still, according to Statistica, approximately 2 million users downloaded Truth Social in its first two weeks; downloads then fell to 218,000, suggesting Trump will have to do a lot more to make this thing work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-nypost-inline-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-3.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower in Manhattan on August 16, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-22099482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=600 600w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=450 450w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=150 150w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><figcaption>Former President Donald Trump was suspended from Twitter following the Capitol riot.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">James Devaney\/GC Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>And with conservative politics again trending toward Twitter, traders say Truth will fail to generate anywhere close to enough user traction to justify Digital World\u2019s current share price of about $52, well off its 2022 high of just above $97 that it hit earlier in the year, even with last week\u2019s Trump-inspired rally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the shorts are salivating. In a short sale, you borrow shares of the target company you\u2019re selling, with the bet that you can satisfy the borrow with less pricey shares when the stock falls. You make money \u2014 sometimes a lot \u2014 on the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Traders tell me they are shorting Digital World only around the margins now because it is difficult to borrow shares that are in limited supply. But if the SEC approves the SPAC, they expect about 200 million shares to flood the market, and the stock to crumble to as low as<br \/>$5 as people weigh the utility of a right-wing Twitter substitute.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The SEC, of course, could just say no to Truth Social\u2019s blank-check holding company, Digital World, and all this would be moot. Regulators are currently looking into some possibly funky trading in the stock and asked for communications of senior executives, board members and investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And the short thesis might not be such easy money. Truth Social\u2019s techies could fix the glitches, and Trump could re-engage long-term and attract many more people to the platform. It should be noted that downloads of Truth Social jumped to No. 1 in Apple\u2019s free App Store ahead of Twitter \u2014 just after Musk and Twitter announced they reached a deal, ironically.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Volatile_personalities\"><\/span>Volatile personalities\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-4.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Elon Musk \" class=\"wp-image-22099483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Elon Musk has promised to be in favor of free speech on Twitter. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Patrick Pleul\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like Trump, Musk has a famously volatile personality, which made Elon as popular as the ex-president on the platform with 89 million followers. Just last week, Musk went after Twitter\u2019s top lawyer despite an apparent post-deal non-disparagement clause, and Musk mused he might buy Coca-Cola so he could \u201cput the cocaine back in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Such volatility, however, isn\u2019t always welcomed on Wall Street. That\u2019s why some traders are betting against Musk actually carrying through with his Twitter bid and coming through with the required $21 billion in equity comprised of his Tesla stock despite the $1 billion breakup fee if he walks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These traders, known as merger arbs, cite several reasons for their bearishness \u2014 which has left Twitter shares trading significantly below Musk\u2019s $52.40 offer \u2014 including his declining net worth since announcing the takeover.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yes, Elon can seem crazy \u2014 remember when he had a \u201cdeal\u201d to take Tesla private at $420 a share, an apparent reference to April 20, known by tokers as an unofficial \u201cNational Marijuana Day.\u201d The deal never happened and the SEC sued him for making it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-5.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"The Twitter logo on a phone\" class=\"wp-image-22099484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/gasparino-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Some expect Musk to reinstate Trump on Twitter, but the former president said he will not rejoin. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Gregory Bull\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Investors forgave him, of course, because he saved Tesla from near-bankruptcy and cranked out many more electric vehicles than analysts believed possible, while shares soared and he became the world\u2019s richest man.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For every merger-arb guy betting against him, I hear there\u2019s at least one trader betting against Trump and Truth Social.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/30\/wall-street-short-sellers-target-trumps-truth-social-app\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Wall Street short sellers target Trump&#8217;s Truth Social app&#8221; Wall Street traders are telling me they can\u2019t wait for the Securities and Exchange Commission to give the green light to Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company holding former President Donald Trump\u2019s new right-wing Twitter alternative named \u201cTruth Social.\u201d\u00a0 And it\u2019s not because they like&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":440114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/newspress-collage-22099354-1651369330561.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1651354998&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[128673,4941,39394,70463,4976,10401],"class_list":["post-440113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-30-22","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-short-seller","tag-social-media","tag-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}