I've seen several claims that large quantities of shares in President Trump's social media network were "shorted" immediately prior to the assassination attempt against him on July 13. The inference being drawn is that whoever did this must have had prior knowledge of the plot, and was poised to profit from its success. Here's just one example of what I've been seeing.
However, few if any of those reporting the alleged short sales bothered to do their own research - they just rushed to repeat a rumor.
The Daily Dot reported more responsibly.
Investors in Trump Media ($DJT) believe that they can prove who had inside knowledge of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
But most of their claims are based on misreading a document filed last week with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
. . .
But claims that the puts were placed specifically right before the assassination don’t hold water. The filing is a report for a calendar year or quarter ending on June 30, which is the latest the puts could have been placed.
It’s possible firms shorted DJT on July 12, but reports revealing that are not currently available.
There's more at the link.
This always happens after a major crisis event like Saturday's. Conspiracy theorists rush out of the woodwork to spread their slimy suspicions all over anything and anyone they can imagine. They don't wait for the initial "fog" to clear, they don't bother to look for authoritative sources (in fact, they frequently quote each other as being authoritative, when all they are doing is rumor-mongering), and they aren't interested in the truth.
Folks, please be very careful where you get your news. Far too many "independent" sources aren't worth the electrons it takes to get them to your computer or telephone screen. At a time when a rumor might spark genuine violence, even murder, against political opponents, their deliberate inaccuracy and refusal to fact-check is criminally negligent, IMHO.
Peter
The July 19th 30-put has an abnormal open interest on it compared to others (would have been At the money on Friday), but there are several call options that have similar OI's, so... it's speculation, not out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteLook, I'd love nothing more than to find out it's true and whodunnit, but the stock options do not contain a smoking gun. I don't see it, sorry.
As Anon 4:53am pointed out, you can see the options activity any time that you like - what you can't do is know in real time who is initiating those transactions.
ReplyDeleteBCE provides an interesting analysis of the players and events.
ReplyDeleteYou said Telephone screen. Are we in a Robert Heinlein novel? ;)
ReplyDeleteAfter the Las Vegas music festival shooting individuals involved in the investigation were revealed to have short positions in Mgm grand. It was a shoddy investigation. People profited on the tragedy. The well of unanswered questions is deep and dark. Writing it off as conspiracy theory is a type of woke accusation.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post begs the question:
ReplyDeleteWho do you consider to be reliable sources of information in crisis? Who do you trust to tell you the real story?
The problem is that these days assuming someone involved with the attempt knew and attempted to get richer by shorting the stock is NOT an irrational idea. It is in fact quite possible. Of course we will never know anything for sure regarding this event because the FBI quickly scooped up all evidence and buried anything that doesn't serve the left's needs. Lately "conspiracy theorist's" have been correct far more often than incorrect.
ReplyDeleteWho coined the term "conspiracy theory"?
ReplyDeleteFWIW
ReplyDeleteMore on the stock short –
“Investment Firm That Allegedly “Put Options” on 12 Million Trump Stocks Day Before Assassination Attempt Blames Filing Error — Rothschild, BlackRock, Vanguard, Meta, George Bush, and Cheney Family Among Top Investors”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/explosive-revelation-investment-firm-that-allegedly-put-options/
Okay, now ask how many investment firms that those folks are invested in didn't short Trump stocks that day?
DeleteMore “Biden News” via Courier Mail
ReplyDeletehttps://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/bdf76dac1c13aeb4a3343ab1f5dd0a9a?width=320
Anyone watching for shorting on things Biden might influence?
I'm sure the same Certified Expert Journalists who assured us that Russian Collusion! was real, that the Hunter Biden Laptop was Right Wing Misinformation and that the Fauci Jab is 100% Safe and Effective! can be fully trusted to be telling the truth now.
ReplyDeleteThe people who run the country have a history of lies, disinformation and conspiracies.
ReplyDeleteThe Gulf of Tonkin false flag indicdent, the IDF "Green Flag" in Gaza, the "Green Flag" that allowed Pearl Harbor, assassinations of JFK and RFK and MLK, "ex"-CIA "plumbers" setting up Nixon so FBI Assistant Director Felt could slowly leak the details to former Naval Intelligence officer Bob Woodward for publication, Russian collusion, peeing prostitutes in Trump's hotel, Covid jabs and masking and "social distancing", Operation Mockingbird, Operation Gladio, Wikileaks, Seth Rich, color revolutions, fake hate crimes ... the least of actual conspiracies is almost endless.
At this point, even the normie ostriches are beginning to pull their heads from the sand. Not a yuge DJT fan, but his use of "Fake News" pretty much destroyed the media's credibility, so that's good.
The term "conspiracy theory" was invented by the CIA after JFK was shot, to ridicule anyone suggesting the official narrative was bunk.
This leaves us in a sad place. The official narratives ... well, they're narratives, and the facts are often incorrect or hidden. As Vox Day likes to say, that only thing you know for sure is what the media say isn't the truth. Given this bodyguard of lies, what are we to do but try to obtain actual facts and try to puzzle out the actual truth?
Of course, that leads to all sorts of problems, as all sorts of incorrect fact surround events. The shooter was somebody in particular from Antifa ... except he wasn't (from the right). The roof was too steep for people to be on it (from the woman in charge of the bullet catchers.) These are pure false information, leading people astray.
Then there are the misinterpretations, such as the one you highlight. The whole last quarter is certainly not right before shooting.
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So this is where we are. Official information has proven unreliable. Random information is frequently false, out of context, or difficult to interpret. Most people are only experts in their own fields, if even that. To state that half the public have below average IQ is a tautology; furthermore, most of the rest are below 115. This means that very few people can puzzle it all out, in between earning their living and raising their kids and walking their dogs and trying to fight the stave off the entropy seizing their dwellings. Maybe they also have a hobby or two. Who has time to sleuth out much of anything, crosscheck facts, dig for context?
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We're beset by evil institutions, controlled by lying evil people. Only when viable alternatives arise - valid alternative information sources, non-woke employers, radically less exploitative providers of goods and services, will life in the West become palatable again.