Three stocks are generating buzz among day traders banking on a Donald Trump victory next week. Retail investors have increasingly focused in on Trump Media & Technology , Rumble and Phunware as stocks that can benefit if the Republican presidential nominee for president prevails. That’s already sent the names on wild moves — and they could be in for more as Americans head to the ballot box. Some of these stocks have clearer connections to the former president than others. Trump Media & Technology, which owns the alternative social media platform TruthSocial, trades under a ticker — DJT — that’s also the initials for the business mogul-turned-politician. Phunware made Trump’s campaign app, while Rumble is a video platform focused on conservatives. To be sure, these trades are considered risky due to high volatility and poor financials. None of these companies turned a profit in 2023. Trump Media, which has the largest market cap of the three, was still less than 25% of median S & P 500 stock size of $37.6 billion. On top of that, few — if any — analysts on Wall Street cover these names. The latest NBC News poll also shows the race between him and Vice President Kamala Harris is in a dead heat. “Making financial bets based on which stocks you think will do best based on an election outcome is not new,” said Christopher Schwarz, a finance professor at the University of California Irvine whose research focuses in part on retail traders. But when it comes to names like DJT, “these stocks have no fundamental reason to be at any price close to the price they’re at.” Still, these names are bound to make headlines and appearances on forums like Reddit’s WallStreetBets in the runup to and directly following the election. CNBC compiled more information about these names and what’s driving interest from some traders: Trump Media & Technology The TruthSocial parent has gained the most attention given the nominee’s stake valued at more than $5 billion as of earlier this week. He holds around 114 million shares, which amounts to ownership of more than half of the company. The stock has seen volatile trading over recent days as voting day draws closer. Shares dove more than 20% on Wednesday, reversing course after jumping more than 8% the day prior. Before Wednesday, the stock had seen a pre-election rally. It pulled the shares out of a slump that at one point sent its price below the $12 mark. On Tuesday, it closed at $51.51. Shares are now more than 160% higher in October, which would mark its first positive month since March. Year to date, they are up more than 140%. Trump Media has seen the highest daily net inflows from retail investors of the year over recent days, according to data analyzed by Vanda Research. That underscores the pour into the name amid the pre-election rally. On Tuesday alone, retail traders were net buyers of Trump Media to the tune of $14.4 million. It’s also been the most discussed stock on WallStreetBets, the popular Reddit forum for meme stock traders, over the last seven days, according to data from Quiver Quantitative as of Wednesday afternoon. The stock has been named more than 17,000 times on the forum this year, the firm said. The U.S. president and vice president are largely exempt from government conflict of interest rules. Still, Trump would be the first to hold office while controlling a publicly traded company. His DJT holding equates to nearly 75% of his net worth. Trump has said that he has no plans to sell his position. “There’s never been, I don’t think, any particular case where the potential future President of the United States probably has such a direct economic impact on particular firms,” said UC Irvine’s Schwarz. Schwarz said there’s no reason for Trump Media to even be publicly traded given its business fundamentals and high price-to-sales ratio. Given that, he said trading is based solely on “speculation.” “Trump Media has no fundamental value — it’s worthless,” he said. “That’s why the outcome of the election probably has such a big impact on what the price of the stock is.” Trump Media reported a loss when looking at net income and EBITDA in 2023. The company had 36 employees as of the end of last year. Phunware and Rumble The other two stocks have a less direct connection to the Republican candidate. Phunware is billed as a mobile software and blockchain company. Beyond the Trump campaign app, Phunware lists Marriott, Atlantis and the Mayo Clinic among clients on its website . The stock has seen major swings over the past year, trading as high as above $24 and as low as below $3. The company employed just 25 people at the end of 2023 and saw losses when looking at net income and EBITDA that year, per FactSet. Phunware has also seen an uptick in net inflows from everyday investors in October, according to Vanda data. Shares have surged more than 140% in the month. It’s also up more than 80% in 2024, on track to snap a two-year losing streak. PHUN YTD mountain Phunware, year to date All four analysts polled by LSEG have buy ratings on the stock. The average price target implies shares can rise nearly 90% above the $15 mark. To be sure, price target estimates vary widely within this group — from as low as $8 to as high as $20. Rumble, on the other hand, hasn’t seen a similar spike as Nov. 5 gets closer. Still, the company is viewed as a Trump-connected play given its video platform that’s popular among conservatives. The company employed just under 160 people at the end of last year and also posted losses on net income and EBITDA in the year. It went public in September 2022 with the backing of PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel. Shares have risen 13% in October, bringing its year to date gain to 36%. Shares have traded within a tighter range over the last 52 weeks, sitting between $3.33 and $9.20. The two analysts surveyed by LSEG both have hold ratings on the stock. Both have an $8 price target, which suggests shares can climb more than 34% over the next year. — CNBC’s Robert Frank and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
Ken Griffin, chief executive officer and founder of Citadel Advisors LLC, speaks during an Economic Club of New York event in New York, US, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin issued a warning against the steep tariffs President-elect Donald Trump vowed to implement, saying crony capitalism could be a consequence.
“I am gravely concerned that the rise of tariffs puts us on a slippery slope towards crony capitalism,” the billionaire investor said Thursday at the Economic Club of New York.
The Citadel founder thinks domestic companies could enjoy a short-term benefit of having their competitors taken away. Longer term, however, it does more harm to corporate America and the economy as companies lose competitiveness and productivity.
Crony capitalism is an economic system marked by close, mutually advantageous relationships between business leaders and government officials.
“Those same companies that enjoy that momentary sugar rush of having their competitors removed from the battlefield, soon become complacent, soon take for granted their newfound economic superiority, and frankly, they become less competitive on both the world stage and less competitive at meeting the needs of the American consumer,” Griffin said at the event.
Trump made universal tariffs a core tenet of his economic campaign pitch, floating a 20% levy on all imports from all countries with a specifically harsh 60% rate for Chinese goods.
The protectionist trade policy could make production of goods more expensive and raise consumer prices, just as the world recovers from pandemic-era inflation spikes.
“Now you’re going to find the halls of Washington really filled with the special interest groups and the lobbyists as people look for continued higher and higher tariffs to keep away foreign competition, and to protect inefficient American businesses have failed to meet the needs of the American consumer,” Griffin said.
At the same event, Griffin also said that he’s not focused on taking Citadel Securities public in the foreseeable future. Citadel is a market maker founded by Griffin in 2002.
“We’re focused on building the business, on investing in our future. And we do believe that there are benefits to being private during this period of very, very rapid growth,” he said.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Nvidia — Shares of the chipmaker dipped about 1% in midday trading, after gyrating earlier in the session. Nvidia beat on top and bottom lines for the third quarter, posting adjusted earnings of 81 cents per share on revenue of $35.08 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had called for earnings of 75 cents per share on $33.16 billion in revenue. Nvidia also gave a better-than-expected forecast for the current quarter. Baidu — U.S. shares of the Chinese search engine fell about 5% after Baidu’s third-quarter revenue declined by 3% compared to the year-ago period . Still, the company posted a 12% increase in its non-online marketing revenue, fueled mostly by growth in its artificial intelligence cloud business. Alphabet — Shares declined 5% on news that the Department of Justice is pushing a federal judge to force Google divest its Chrome internet browser in order to create a more level playing field for competitors in the search industry. That follows a ruling in August that Google has a monopoly in the search market. Snowflake — The data analytics software maker saw shares skyrocket more than 34%, after the company’s better-than-expected third-quarter results . The stock is heading for its best day ever. Snowflake also called for $3.43 billion in fiscal 2025 product revenue, implying 29% growth. CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said Snowflake is focusing more on saving money. Merus — Shares of the cancer therapeutics company gained nearly 4%. Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Merus with a buy rating, saying it sees big gains ahead driven by the company’s cancer treatment. Netflix — Shares rose nearly 2% on the heels of Bank of America reiterating its buy rating on the stock and upping its price target to $1,000. The bank cited live events, as well as Netflix’s in-house ad tech platform, as catalysts for growth. Crypto-related stocks — Stocks tied to cryptocurrencies earlier rose after the price of bitcoin crossed $98,000 for the first time , but they fluctuated after Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz warned that a pullback in bitcoin will come eventually. MicroStrategy was down 1%, reversing its earlier gains, while Coinbase dipped 3%. Miner Mara Holdings gained nearly 10%, while trading platform Robinhood dipped about 1%. BJ’s Wholesale Club — Shares moved 9% higher after the warehouse club’s third-quarter adjusted earnings beat the Street’s estimates. BJ’s also boosted its full-year guidance. The company said it will increase its membership fee and announced plans to repurchase $1 billion shares. PDD Holdings — Shares of the e-commerce giant, which owns Temu, fell 9.7%. PDD missed profit and revenue estimates. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Yun Li and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, testifies during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress,” in the Dirksen Building on Nov. 30, 2023.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday issued a finalized version of a rule saying it will soon supervise nonbank firms that offer financial services likes payments and wallet apps.
Tech giants and payments firms that handle at least 50 million transactions annually will fall under the review, which is meant to ensure the newer entrants adhere to the laws that banks and credit unions abide by, the CFPB said in a release. That would include popular services from Apple and Google, as well as payment firms like PayPal and Block.
While the CFPB already had some authority over digital payment companies because of its oversight of electronic fund transfers, the new rule allows it to treat tech companies more like banks. It makes the firms subject to “proactive examinations” to ensure legal compliance, enabling it to demand records and interview employees.
“Digital payments have gone from novelty to necessity and our oversight must reflect this reality,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “The rule will help to protect consumer privacy, guard against fraud, and prevent illegal account closures.”
A year ago, the CFPB said it wanted to extend its oversight to tech and fintech companies that offer financial services but that have sidestepped more scrutiny by partnering with banks. Americans are increasingly using payment apps as de facto bank accounts, storing cash and making everyday purchases through their mobile phones.
The most popular apps covered by the rule collectively process more than 13 billion consumer payments a year, and have gained “particularly strong adoption” among low- and middle-income users, the CFPB said on Thursday.
“What began as a convenient alternative to cash has evolved into a critical financial tool, processing over a trillion dollars in payments between consumers and their friends, families, and businesses,” the regulator said.
The initial proposal would’ve subjected companies that process at least 5 million transactions annually to some of the same examinations that the CFPB conducts on banks and credit unions. That threshold got raised to 50 million transactions in the final rule, the agency said Thursday.
Payment apps that only work at a particular retailer, like Starbucks, are excluded from the rule.
The new CFPB rule is one of the rare instances where the U.S. banking industry publicly supported the regulator’s actions; banks have long felt that tech firms making inroads in financial services ought to be more scrutinized.
The CFPB said the rule will take effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register.