DJT stock is rising amid Trump's rise in betting markets as volatility prompts trading halts

Donald Trump's media company is enjoying a stock market rally, with shares of Trump Media & Technology Group surging on Tuesday as betting markets now bet on the former president emerging victorious in the November 5 election.

The focus on Trump Media – which trades under the ticker symbol DJT, identical to Trump's initials – has led to a surge in trading volume, with the New York Stock Exchange halting trading in the stock several times on Tuesday due to unusual volatility.

Shares rose $5.86, or 12.4%, to $53.22 in Tuesday afternoon trading. The share price has more than tripled in the past month.

While polls show that the presidential race is extremely close, betting markets like Polymarket are now predicting that Trump is the favorite to win the election. While Polymarket said last week that a single French trader was behind four accounts that spent millions buying the Trump contract, the international platform concluded it was not market manipulation.

Trump Media has been volatile since trading began in March and initially achieved a rise in value that exceeded expectations exceeded $9 billion despite a history of losses before falling to a low of $11.75 per share in September. Much of the stock's movement has to do with Trump's political fortunes, with DJT swinging higher when his chances appear to be improving.

This led to comparisons to a meme stock or a company whose shares are traded on social media, rather than traditional analytical measures such as revenue growth and profitability. Trading volume in DJT shares has been unusually high over the past two weeks, according to financial data firm FactSet. On Tuesday, trading volume topped 120 million shares, compared to a 30-day average trading volume of 35 million shares.

“DJT has been very volatile due to speculators acting as catalysts,” Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida, wrote in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. “These speculators buy when the price rises, driving the price higher, but then sell when the tide turns, occasionally causing sharp declines.”

But Trump Media has little revenue or growth to attract institutional investors, and short selling has become expensive because of the cost of borrowing shares, Ritter added.

“The company is losing money and burning through its cash. Anything can happen to the price in the short term, but the long-term trend will be bearish,” he added.