Trump’s most recent campaign ad features a solar eclipse and a shadow cast over the US
Trump’s Truth Social ad, symbolizing ambition to ‘save America,’ sparks mixed reactions.
Total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, faces weather challenges. Legal battle for Trump’s criminal trial continues amid US election.
In a unique campaign move, former President Donald Trump embraced the theme of solar eclipses by sharing an eccentric advertisement on Truth Social, where his silhouette effectively eclipses the sun, symbolizing his ambition to “save America and make it great again.”
This campaign ad was launched in anticipation of the significant solar event on April 8, 2024, heralded as “the most important moment in human history” within, which showcases dramatic imagery of the sun and awestruck onlookers wearing protective glasses.
The video then shows a huge silhouette of Donald Trump’s head, and not the Moon, moving slowly towards the Sun. As Trump’s head, with his discernible bushy eyebrows, covers the sun in entirety, a phrase flashes across the screen – ‘We will save America. And make it great again’.
Some people on social media found the message in the campaign ad a bit strange.
One user posted on X, “Ah. So Trump getting “in front” of Biden will plunge America into darkness? (You know. Just like an eclipse).”
“You also forgot to include the next frame, you know, the one where the sun reemerges. Eclipses are temporary. Like Trump,” wrote another user on X.
Trump talked about the April 8 eclipse, which comes seven years after a memorable moment during the last solar eclipse.
Back in August 2017, when he was president, Trump became famous online for looking directly at the sun without any eye protection, ignoring safety advice.
At the White House, Trump, along with his wife Melania and son Barron, watched the eclipse from the Truman balcony.
While Melania and Barron wore eclipse glasses, Trump didn’t and kept looking at the eclipse without proper eye protection, despite warnings.
Looking at an eclipse with naked eyes can hurt your eyes badly, even causing blindness.
The incident became viral on social media and is being talked about again ahead of Monday’s eclipse.
Yesterday, millions watched the eclipse across North America.
An estimated 44 million people from Mexico to Canada were expected to see the total solar eclipse, with many others travelling to those regions to witness this rare event.
‘This thing is going crazy.’ Why Trump Media stock is subject to extreme turbulence
Don’t blink. You might miss a massive move in Trump Media & Technology Group’s stock price.
The Truth Social owner has only been public for two weeks but it has already sent traders on a stomach-churning ride.
Gravity-defying spikes in the share price have been followed by earth-shattering crashes. Trump Media is so turbulent that it makes bitcoin’s volatility look tame.
This extreme turbulence has caused wild swings in the net worth of the company’s largest shareholder and chairman: former President Donald Trump.
His net worth has plunged by more than $2 billion since Trump Media’s closing price on March 27, the day after it went public.
On just one particularly bad day, Trump’s net worth plunged by $1 billion.
There are many reasons why Trump Media shares have been so volatile, including the fact that the company is inextricably linked to the former president.
His name recognition, politically polarizing nature and close association with the company have captured the attention of retail investors, professional traders and the news media, creating a volatile environment for the stock.
During Trump Media’s first nine trading days with the ticker symbol “DJT,” the stock has moved up or down by at least 5% each day.
More than half the days it has moved by double-digit percentages. That is not normal.
Trump Media’s daily stock performance has a standard deviation of about 13%, according to Michael Ohlrogge, associate professor at NYU School of Law.
That’s more than six times the average over the same period for companies with a similar market valuation.
“Detachable” from foundations
One reason Trump Media is moving so much more than a typical stock is because it achieved a very lucrative valuation when it went public that experts say defies logic.
And stocks with ridiculous valuations tend to be more volatile, with little support once they start plunging.
Truth Social’s monthly active US users on iOS and Android plunged 51% year-over-year in February, according to Similar web.
Trump Media lost $58 million in 2023 and generated very little revenue: just $4.1 million that year. And yet it was valued at as much as $11 billion the day it started trading.
“This stock seems to be completely untethered to fundamental value,” said Ohlrogge.
Here’s how high Trump Media’s valuation is: Even if the stock price plunged by 50% each day this week, it would still be valued much more richly than any of its peers, according to Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital.
One common way to value stocks is to measure their price-to-sales ratio. Kennedy pointed out that a 50% drop each day this week would leave Trump Media with a market valuation of about $173 million.
That would equal about 40 times the company’s 2023 revenue.
By comparison, Reddit is trading at 11 times trailing revenue, Facebook owner Meta is trading at 10 times and Snap at four times.
Even Rumble, the video platform that describes itself as “immune to cancel culture,” is trading at 22 time’s sales.
“A company with minimal revenue doesn’t have much of a floor,” said Kennedy.
The Trump factor
All of this has been amplified by the Trump factor: The fact that this company is inextricably linked to the popularity and political fate of the former president.
“If this was not DJT but my initials of MBT, this thing would be trading at a buck,” said Tuttle.
In some ways, the stock has become a vehicle for people to bet on the political fortunes of Trump.
“The company is worth some amount of money if Trump becomes president and a much, much lower amount if he doesn’t,” said Renaissance’s Kennedy.
Some people are only betting on or against the stock because of their feelings about the former president. And that debate is playing out in real time.
Jonathan Macey, a professor at Yale Law School, said this divide helps explain the tug-of-war in the marketplace.
“There are Trump supporters who see a big balloon rising and think that it will never fall to earth,” Macey said.
“There are sophisticated investors, who understand things like gravity, and are betting on its swift return to ground.”
OMG, President Trump just released this #SolarEclipse video on Truth 🤣🤣🤣👇 pic.twitter.com/yoWsVWgsi9
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) April 8, 2024
