After enduring the malign White House ghosts and the Machiavellian Autopen, President Trump’s transparency sure is refreshing. His Truth Social posts are a major vehicle for promulgating his nearly real-time machinations, and official statements on policy, to anyone who follows.
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Now, certain potentially market-moving posts will only be timely for paid subscribers, while the general public are initially excluded from this important corner of the public square. Paying customers like financial firms will be alerted to President Trump’s market-moving posts while the common schmuck remains oblivious — perhaps until it is too late to leverage the news.
It leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth. In principle, selling faster access to Trump’s posts may be at cross-purposes with the market democratization inherent in Trump Accounts. Neither does the paid data feed gleam with sunlight when juxtaposed to Congressional efforts to curb insider trading. Indeed, former Securities and Exchange Officials caution that it may abridge laws that prohibit non-public information that gives traders an unfair advantage.
Here’s another ramification. Since Trump Media and Technology Group is now in the business of curating premium content for subscribers, why wouldn’t they enthusiastically embellish news to make the Trump Truth API (paid data feed) service justify the price? For example: Recently, there is an almost perfectly inverse correlation between the movement of oil prices and the stock market — oil goes down, stocks go up, and vice-versa. It doesn’t require much imagination to see the potential for Truth Posts to impact that relationship.
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Here’s another example that’s fraught with uneven consequences that benefit paid subscribers to the detriment of common folk. Suppose President Trump’s paid premium posts cautioned subscribers (e.g.,Wall Street insiders) that a lower tariff agreement has been reached with a major trading partner, therefore do not be a “panican.” Those who didn’t panic during the tariff tantrums were richly rewarded, but much of the upward movement was quick. Should those who are well-heeled be able to front-run such news?
Socialists want equality in poverty, and equity in outcomes. One way to counter their propaganda is by promoting equality of opportunity, including participation in our dynamic, free-enterprise markets. However, I fear that unscrupulous traders will “buy the rumor” (i.e. DJT Truth Posts), then once the potentially market-moving Truth Post enters the public domain, they will “sell the news.” Let’s teach the beneficiaries of Trump Accounts that the system is not always stacked against them.
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Image generated by ChatGPT.