Is DJT Stock Just a Donald Trump Hot Air Balloon?

DJT isn’t a traditional stock, a meme stock, or cryptocurrency

Stephen Foerster

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Illustration of Donald Trump as a hot air balloon
Illustration by Stephen Foerster; inspiration by KAL

The Economist magazine subscribers are occasionally invited to attend behind-the-scenes webinars. My favorite was hosted by the magazine’s political cartoonist, Kevin Kallaugher, who goes by the pen name of KAL. He gave a short tutorial on how to draw Donald Trump as a hot air balloon (here’s a video of how to do it). I thought of that drawing when Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) listed recently on the Nasdaq through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company or SPAC.

Let’s put politics aside, at least for now. Let’s simply try to look at the TMTG stock — which goes by the ticker DJT, representing Trump’s initials — from an investment perspective. It’s been in the news a lot lately. What should we make of it? I’ve created a series of questions and answers that consider ways an investor might look at the stock.

What’s a SPAC and how did DJT originate?
SPACs, or blank check companies, were developed in 1993 but became really popular around 2019. They are companies formed through initial public offerings (IPOs), solely to combine with private companies, typically start-ups. SPAC investing is essentially betting on the jockey because initially there isn’t any horse. There are three key stages in the life of…

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Stephen Foerster

I’m an award-winning author and Finance prof, CFA. I write stories about investing and investment history. (I don’t give financial advice.)