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Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

Amateur trader Manny Marotta holds his laptop in his apartment in Rocky River, Ohio, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The legal writer from suburban Cleveland had been up about $4,000 on “put” options for Trump Media & Technology stock, purchased over the past few weeks. AP PHOTO / DAVID DERMER

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Condon examined the short-selling phenomenon behind Donald Trump’s Truth Social stock, interviewing actual investors about their motivations for betting on the stock to fail and analyzing the numbers to determine how much they’ve made cumulatively.

Condon found the investors were less motivated by their personal feelings about Trump than their faith in the woeful underlying financials of a company that made less money last year than the average Wendy’s hamburger franchise.

Condon also worked with the research firms FactSet and S3 Partners to come up with how much investors have made so far — at least $200 million, a figure that hadn’t been reported previously.

Condon’s story was the third-most clicked story on the APNews app on a busy Friday, ranking behind only Trump spot trial coverage. Websites such as ABC News, CBS News, the Washington Post and MSN prominently displayed it.

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