The mysterious surge before the Trump family got involved: small Stocks trading anomalies confirm insider trading?

According to media reports, on November 27 of last year, the Drone manufacturer $Unusual Machines (UMAC.US)$ within four weeks before announcing the hiring of Donald Trump Jr., the stock price nearly tripled.

Additionally, on February 11 of this year, the securities and CNI Xiangmi Lake Fintech Index group based in Trump Tower in New York $Dominari Holdings (DOMH.US)$ within six weeks prior to the announcement that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump would join its advisory board, the stock price surged an astounding 580%.

The scale of these trading anomalies is hard to ignore.

Market data shows that Unusual Machines (with a Market Cap of approximately 90 million USD) had an average daily trading volume of 0.29 million shares in the four weeks prior to the announcement, significantly higher than the 0.093 million shares during the period from March to October 2024. Dominari (with a Market Cap of approximately 60 million USD) saw an even more astonishing increase in trading volume, skyrocketing from 0.0117 million shares from March to December 2024 to 1.2 million shares.

Currently, although the stock prices of both companies are below the levels prior to the Trump family's announcement of appointments, they are still higher than a year ago.

Advance acquisition of equity has triggered 'unusual' anomalies.

Regulatory filings show that the Trump brothers acquired a large number of shares in these companies before the announcement was made.

Dominari's disclosure documents indicate that Trump's two sons each received 966,000 shares of stock, representing 6.7% of the company’s equity. Meanwhile, Unusual Machines' November documents reveal that Trump's youngest son holds 200,000 shares issued under 'restricted stock unit agreements and advisory agreements', and additionally purchased 131,000 shares.

Unusual Machines stated that information regarding Trump's youngest son’s planned involvement was limited to three senior officials, the Board of Directors, and legal advisors. The company claimed, 'There is no reason to believe that any of these individuals violated any laws or trust obligations,' and noted that it is 'unaware of the reasons any investors purchased its stocks during this period.'

It's worth noting that Unusual Machines' initial public offering last year was underwritten by Dominari, which did not respond to requests for comment.

Adam Pritchard, a law professor at the University of Michigan, believes that the unusual movement of these Stocks is "clearly unusual." But he also added:

“This does not necessarily mean insider trading. As a Board of Directors advisor, Donald Trump Jr. is not necessarily obligated to keep his information confidential—this is different from the usual situation with Board of Directors members.”

The Trump camp has repeatedly been suspected of insider trading or market manipulation.

This is not the first time the Trump camp has caused market fluctuations and aroused suspicion.

In October 2021, when Trump Media & Technology Group, which Donald Trump Jr. majority owns and operates the social media site Truth Social, announced plans to merge with the Shell Companies Digital World Acquisition Corp, trading volume surged the night before the announcement, drawing regulatory attention.

This year, during a sensitive period of announcing a pause on tariff policies, Trump's call to "Buy" through Posts also sparked controversy.

According to the USA New York Times, at 9:37 AM on the 9th, Trump posted a message in all capital letters on the social media platform: "This is a good time to Buy!!! DJT." Just about four hours later, according to the Shanghai Securities Journal, he indicated he would implement a 90-day tariff suspension on certain countries.

According to congressional disclosure documents, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of Trump and a Congresswoman from Georgia, conducted 21 Stock buying operations over two consecutive days from April 8 to 9, with each transaction amounting between $1,001 and $15,000, totaling between $21,000 and $315,000.

On April 8, Greene sold between $0.05 million and $0.1 million in U.S. Treasuries, successfully avoiding fluctuations in the bond market. Prior to Trump's announcement of "reciprocal tariffs" on April 2, she had once bought up to $0.5 million in government bonds.

Additionally, Republican Congressman Rob Bresnahan, California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, former Speaker of the House Pelosi and her husband are also suspected of "timing the market to build positions," raising significant concerns among Democratic lawmakers regarding "market manipulation" and "insider trading."

Editor/danial