The debut of former President Donald Trump‘s Truth Social stock symbol “DJT” sparked confusion among investors as some brokerage balances briefly surged by hundreds of thousands of dollars on Tuesday, the first trading day of the new ticker.
Social media flooded with complaints from users who noticed their DJT stock holdings on Charles Schwab platforms showing inflated values, akin to those of the Dow Jones Transportation Average.
Pre-market hours on Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade trading platform also experienced similar issues, users reported. Trump Media & Technology Group shares began trading at $70.90, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average began at 15,937.73 points.
One trader, as evidenced by a screenshot shared on social media, saw their Schwab brokerage balance jump by over $1 million due to the anomaly.
Another user, @DanielBenjamin8, shared their experience on E*Trade, expressing amusement at briefly seeing millions in their account, albeit unrealistically.
Users on social media platforms and Reddit speculated that the inflated balances resulted from the company’s ticker symbol bearing a striking resemblance to the Dow Jones index.
A Charles Schwab spokeswoman attributed the issue to a technical glitch, affecting certain users on their trading platforms. While Schwab didn’t disclose the exact cause, they assured that the problem has been resolved, and trading activities have resumed as usual.
E*Trade didn’t provide immediate comments on the matter. Both Trump Media & Technology Group and S&P Dow Jones Indices, responsible for the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index, refrained from offering immediate responses.
Despite indications that the issue has been rectified, many investors expressed regret over their inability to capitalize on the temporary gains generated by the error.
The trader who briefly saw their account balance balloon by over $1 million humorously lamented the need to inform their boss that retirement plans were premature.
The confusion surrounding Truth Social’s stock symbol underscored the challenges posed by ticker resemblance, prompting brokerage firms to swiftly address the technical mishap to restore normalcy to trading activities.
