Trump Media shares halted repeatedly as DJT whipsaws in volatile trading

• Trading of Trump Media shares was halted multiple times as the company majority majority-owned by Donald Trump ricocheted in a volatile session.
• The volatile session came after DJT stock had already surged more than 21% on Monday on extremely heavy trading volume.
• The gains came during a pre-election stock rally that began in late September after a monthslong sell-off that dragged the company’s share price below $12.

Trading of Trump Media shares was halted for volatility multiple times Tuesday morning as the company majority owned by Donald Trump ricocheted in early trading.

The company, which trades as DJT on the Nasdaq, was halted for five minutes at 9:36 a.m. ET, when shares were trading up around 14%.

Trading was halted a second time at 9:42 a.m., with shares up nearly 9%. The company was halted again at 9:50 a.m.

When it was halted for a fourth time at 10:21 a.m., the stock was down more than 2%. Trading was halted again 10 minutes later.

By 11 a.m., the stock was up more than 6%.

Nearly 16 million Trump Media shares changed hands in the first 10 minutes of the trading day. By 10:15 a.m., the company had already surpassed its 30-day average trading volume of 35.1 million shares.

Trump owns nearly 57% of the company, which operates the Truth Social platform. His stake at Monday’s closing price was worth upward of $5.4 billion, representing more than half of his on-paper net worth, according to Forbes.

At the opening bell Tuesday, the former president’s stake was worth more than $6 billion.

Despite losing hundreds of millions of dollars on scant revenue in recent fiscal quarters, Trump Media boasts a market capitalization above $10 billion.

Analysts believe the company’s many pro-Trump retail investors are buying its stock to support the former president or bet on his odds of beating Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Monday’s surge followed Trump’s major campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday.

The company’s gains have also coincided with political betting markets, such as Polymarket and Kalshi, tilting toward Trump over Harris in recent weeks.

Odds and gambling platforms do not use the same methodologies used by traditional political polling, and therefore are not substitutes for political polls. Critics have raised concerns that the election betting markets are being manipulated.

CNBC