DJT Bull Trap?

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. You're absolutely correct

YOU don't have to own the shares, but there has to be an account somewhere willing to loan them if you are on the Sell side of the contract.

I thought you could buy puts w/o owning shares and sell them before expiration hopefully at profit if the stock price has dropped?

Also correct. You are buying the right, but not the obligation, to sell a stock at a given price on a future date. If you sell the contract before expiration, no actual shares have traded into or out of your account. If you use a platform like E*Trade or similar, on the Trade page you might have seen the selection "Buy to Cover". That's used for what you stated.

the trouble I see with DJT is the lack of activity on options, the high implied volatility, and the wide bid ask spreads.

Yup. I had read where Trumpy himself is holding something like 60% of the float (if I remember correctly) and that has severely limited their availability.

I shouldn't have sounded so absolutist in my post, as there are very often work arounds, but some of them are skirting SEC rules.

May all your trades be net gains!