Hedge fund Qube unveils $105 million short position in Trump Media

By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies unveiled a roughly $105 million short position against shares in Trump Media & Technology Group on Monday, according to a filing with Germany’s federal Gazette Bundesanzeiger.

Qube’s disclosed position in Trump Media, which was first reported by research firm Breakout Point, equates to 2.53% of the total free float of Trump Media.

Trump Media and global quantitative and systematic hedge fund Qube did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment about the short position.

Breakout Point said it marked the first regulatory short disclosure in Trump Media by any entity, adding it is also Qube’s biggest short position in percentage terms after B Riley Financial.

Investors who sell securities “short” borrow shares and then sell them, expecting the stock to fall so they can buy the shares back at the lower price, return them to the lender and pocket the difference.

A popular stock among retail investors, shares in Trump Media are down 44% this year after roughly doubling in value last year. The short interest in the company, which has a market value of $4.2 billion, is at 4.9%, according to LSEG.

Earlier this month, Trump Media’s shares plunged after the company filed papers that would allow the president’s trust to sell a large number of shares.

Its shares on Monday were last up 1.6%.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York; Editing by Joe Bavier)