Rumble (US:RUM) Finbold·2024-07-19 18:19Core Viewpoint - Austin Private Wealth executed a significant short sale of 34 million shares of Rumble, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest, especially given Rumble's ties to Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance [1][4][10]. Group 1: Short Sale Details - Austin Private Wealth shorted 34 million shares of Rumble and 12 million shares of Trump Media & Technology the day before an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump [10][11]. - The firm claimed that the massive shorting was due to an accidental addition of six orders of magnitude to their order size, which has led to scrutiny regarding the legitimacy of their operations [6][12]. Group 2: Conflict of Interest - JD Vance's investment in Rumble is estimated between $115,000 and $300,000, highlighting a potential conflict of interest with Austin Private Wealth's actions [4]. - Austin Private Wealth executed 71% of all put options on DJT Holdings in the last 90 days on the same day as the short sale, raising further concerns about the firm's intentions [11]. Group 3: Market Impact - The shorting activities occurred in a politically sensitive context, with implications for the market and potential investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [7]. - Following the short sale, DJT traded at $34.24, with losses exceeding 8%, while Rumble was valued at $6.38, dropping over 5% in the last 24 hours [13].