2017 Investor Roundtable:General Discussion

[TradingInvest]

On this note,



Hotbed of Misinformation

"There are a number of other false statements in the class action lawsuit alleging a so-called “hotbed of discrimination”:

- There is only one actual plaintiff (Marcus Vaughn), not 100. The reference to 100 is a complete fabrication with no basis in fact at all.

- The plaintiff was employed by a temp agency, not by Tesla as claimed in the lawsuit.

- Marcus was not fired, he was on a six month temp contract that simply ended as contracted.

- His email to Elon was about his commute and Tesla’s shuttles, which was addressed as he requested. There was no mention of racial discrimination whatsoever.

- The trial lawyer who filed this lawsuit has a long track record of extorting money for meritless claims and using the threat of media attacks and expensive trial costs to get companies to settle. At Tesla, we would rather pay ten times the settlement demand in legal fees and fight to the ends of the Earth than give in to extortion and allow this abuse of the legal system.
"

I love Tesla! Do the right things.

I hope someday the society finds a way to expose and stop these blood sucking "lawyers". Their greed is becoming a tax on the society.

 

[Mike Smith]

On this note,



Hotbed of Misinformation

This beat me to it - I was just coming here to say I just read the lawsuit and it's as if the media never even read it. If they had they'd know there is only 1 plaintiff in the member class, not 100. That's just an estimate the lawyer made of how many people may have been affected and might join the class - in his opinion. Also, the entire complaint is over use of the n-word, and there is no mention that there was anyone but black people doing it, so I'd assume that is overwhelmingly the case. This isn't great if true, but it's not exactly a "pre civil rights era" situation. No mention of pay discrimination or anything like that. The media better clarify all this tomorrow.

 

[TradingInvest]

This beat me to it - I was just coming here to say I just read the lawsuit and it's as if the media never even read it. If they had they'd know there is only 1 plaintiff in the member class, not 100. That's just an estimate the lawyer made of how many people may have been affected and might join the class - in his opinion. Also, the entire complaint is over use of the n-word, and there is no mention that there was anyone but black people doing it, so I'd assume that is overwhelmingly the case. This isn't great but it's not exactly a "pre civil rights era" situation. No mention of pay discrimination or anything like that. The media better clarify all this tomorrow.

Those medias don't have the integrity to write it correctly. Many authors probably are paid by the shorts to bash Tesla. Billions of dollars are on the line.

 

[SteveG3]

Those medias don't have the integrity to write it correctly. Many authors probably are paid by the shorts to bash Tesla. Billions Trillions of dollars are on the line.

roughly 10% of the world's economy.

the money behind the bulk of the short position is likely the same money behind the massive smear campaign in the media.

There is no other stock shorted like Tesla, and I've never seen a stock with even a quarter of the stream of smear articles Tesla is and has been subject to for years. Ever look at the Yahoo Finance "News" feed for Tesla? Tesla is a massive outlier on both of these fronts... and they happen to be on course to turn upside down 10% of the global economy.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Those medias don't have the integrity to write it correctly. Many authors probably are paid by the shorts to bash Tesla. Billions of dollars are on the line.

Clickbait articles. Sensational negative titles with Tesla... get paid.

 

[Mike Smith]

Here is the actual text the lawyer used to concoct his 'Elon email':

Part of not being a jerk is considering how someone might feel who is part of an historically less represented group. They have endured difficulties that someone born or raised in a more privileged situation did not. This doesn't mean that there is a different standard of performance or that you can't give critical feedback. You should - doing anything else would be an insult to the hard work it took to get there - but don't ever intentionally allow someone to feel excluded, uncomfortable or unfairly treated. Sometimes these things happen unintentionally, in which case you should apologize.

In fairness, if someone is a jerk to you, but sincerely apologizes, it is important to be thick-skinned and accept that apology.

From that he created:

"Part of not being a huge jerk is considering how someone might feel who is part of [a] historically less represented group," Musk wrote in the email. "Sometimes these things happen unintentionally, in which case you should apologize. In fairness, if someone is a jerk to you, but sincerely apologizes, it is important to be thick-skinned and accept that apology."

 

[SteveG3]

Clickbait articles. Sensational negative titles with Tesla... get paid.

If you can show me some examples of other companies that have the same volume of negative, false stories we see daily on Yahoo Finance's newsfeed, then, I'll chalk it up to clickbait games. I'm quite skeptical that you will succeed, but, I may be wrong.

Can anyone find even one example? I doubt that even one will be found.

 

[GoTslaGo]

If you can show me some examples of other companies that have the same volume of negative, false stories we see daily on Yahoo Finance's newsfeed, then, I'll chalk it up to clickbait games. I'm quite skeptical that you will succeed, but, I may be wrong.

Can anyone find even one example? I doubt that even one will be found.

I don’t disagree. Maybe differing interpretation of click-bait term.

My interpretation of clickbait is sensational article title with false premise and false facts. If the term means the title is misleading and the article is the opposite of the title then that would be my misinterpretation of the term—then my apologies. Otherwise I am in complete agreement with your statement.

 

[SteveG3]

I don’t disagree. Maybe differing interpretation of click-bait term.

My interpretation of clickbait is sensational article title with false premise and false facts. If the term means the title is misleading and the article is the opposite of the title then that would be my misinterpretation of the term—then my apologies. Otherwise I am in complete agreement with your statement.

What I’m saying is that I think it’s quite improbable that the volume of negative false headlines Tesla receives is simply the general phenomena of click bait titles that would be directed at Tesla basically as much as any high attention public company (Apple, Amazon, Netflix, etc).

I very strongly suspect that much like its outlier size short position, it has an outlier level of false negative “press.” I don’t know of any other company on a course that will turn upside down 10% of the global economy if they succeed (fwiw, not saying Tesla will end up with 10% of the economy, just that it is on course to greatly accelerate the disruption of 10% of the global economy). I believe both outlier phenomena are due to that same unique (as far as I know) potential impact.

We could actually make a new thread and crowd source among us a little study for a few weeks charting the nature of Tesla “news” stories along with a few other companies that are intently followed. I quite suspect it would come close to knocking people’s brains into another dimension (semi reveal tweet reference, lols).

 

[dalalsid]

I totally disagree that young people won't care what kind of car gets them from A to B. That is like saying young people don't care what type of smart phone they use as long as it can run instagram and snap. They all seem to care about status, and want the iPhone. I think it will be the same with self driving cars. They may use the crappy ones because it is all they can afford, but they will want to use the fancy status symbol ones.

This just means the ones going after status will get a self driving luxury CAAS from point A to point B instead of self driving regular CAAS. I say the young generation cares less about ownership. We dont own music, dvds, books etc. Owning and driving a car are hassles that need to be eliminated. But that is just IMHO.

 

[Gerardf]

SpaceX (secretive) Zuma launch delayed by one day. Now same day and almost same time, as Semi-Truck launch.

r/SpaceX ZUMA Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread • r/spacex

SpaceX Zuma :
Thursday November 16th 2017, 20:00 - 22:00 EST
Thursday November 16th 2017, 17:00 - 19:00 PST
November 17th 2017, 01:00 - 03:00 UTC (London)
November 17th 2017, 02:00 - 04:00 CET (Western Europe)

Tesla Semi Truck event : " Thursday at 8pm!" (assuming this is PST)
Thursday November 16th 2017, 23.00 EST
Thursday November 16th 2017, 20.00 PST
November 17th 2017, 04:00 UTC (London)
November 17th 2017, 05:00 CET (Western Europe)

" Busy evening" for Elon..
Might be that someone else will present.

 

[Drax7]

If you can show me some examples of other companies that have the same volume of negative, false stories we see daily on Yahoo Finance's newsfeed, then, I'll chalk it up to clickbait games. I'm quite skeptical that you will succeed, but, I may be wrong.

Can anyone find even one example? I doubt that even one will be found.

In the past Amazon was ridiculed plenty , especially after the dot com crash .
Though never to the degree of Tesla.

Most disrupters get negative press by the financial media,
Implying the financial media may have a vested interest in suppressing
Them.

 

[scaesare]

On this note,



Hotbed of Misinformation

Man, I continue to love their PR responses...

 

[Intl Professor]

I didn't see this speculation about the Semi reveal. I have no evidence but it would seem logical even desirable to have Tesla supply drive trains, batteries, and related software and controls along with automated driving (platooning already mentioned) and have assembly done by existing truck makers.

 

[EinSV]

Never one to disappoint, the LA Times published a lengthy article this morning that ticks off all the reasons for people to be skeptical of Tesla's Semi project:

• Everyone else is already doing some sort of "electric" truck (if you include hybrids, hydrogen, short-range electrics etc.)
• Tesla will struggle to produce it (obligatory Model 3 reference)
• Electric is not great for long haul
• Competition is gearing up
• Truckers/trucking companies are slow to change
• Obligatory reference from industry guy saying no significant switch to EVs until 2030 or maybe 2025

Tesla's entry into truck-making presents a whole new challenge for Elon Musk

Tom Randall also published a piece in Bloomberg on the Semi that seems pretty balanced (aka "fanboyish"):

What Tesla's Big Rig Must Do to Seduce Truckers

I do think there is a decent chance that the Tesla Semi will truly be "mindblowing" in terms of the business case, but that the LA Times viewpoint is prevalent among many investors at least until Model 3 production is up and running and Tesla's ability to deliver on the Semi is more clear.

I personally am confident the Semi is going to turn the trucking world upside down much faster than the industry wags and skeptics think.

 

[aubreymcfato]

Norway update:
we are mid-November, and we already reached October numbers (295),
and slashed previous Nov 16 results (170).
Tesla Registration Stats

Personally, I'm in for a great December, and thus a great Q4.

 

[aubreymcfato]

Also:
Top Gear and a Model S P90D
Top Gear drag races: Tesla Model S vs Audi RS6

 

[Krugerrand]

I totally disagree that young people won't care what kind of car gets them from A to B. That is like saying young people don't care what type of smart phone they use as long as it can run instagram and snap. They all seem to care about status, and want the iPhone. I think it will be the same with self driving cars. They may use the crappy ones because it is all they can afford, but they will want to use the fancy status symbol ones.

The young people I know know all about Tesla and they’re all very excited about owning one in the future.

 

[erthquake]

Never one to disappoint, the LA Times published a lengthy article this morning that ticks off all the reasons for people to be skeptical of Tesla's Semi project:

• Everyone else is already doing some sort of "electric" truck (if you include hybrids, hydrogen, short-range electrics etc.)
• Tesla will struggle to produce it (obligatory Model 3 reference)
• Electric is not great for long haul
• Competition is gearing up
• Truckers/trucking companies are slow to change
• Obligatory reference from industry guy saying no significant switch to EVs until 2030 or maybe 2025

Tesla's entry into truck-making presents a whole new challenge for Elon Musk

Tom Randall also published a piece in Bloomberg on the Semi that seems pretty balanced (aka "fanboyish"):

What Tesla's Big Rig Must Do to Seduce Truckers

I do think there is a decent chance that the Tesla Semi will truly be "mindblowing" in terms of the business case, but that the LA Times viewpoint is prevalent among many investors at least until Model 3 production is up and running and Tesla's ability to deliver on the Semi is more clear.

I personally am confident the Semi is going to turn the trucking world upside down much faster than the industry wags and skeptics think.

Russ Mitchell (LA Times) follows and tweets with MarkBS and BSchmitt. So, yeah.

 

[Starno]

ENJOY

Elon Musk: Inventor's Plans for Outer Space, Cars, Finding Love - Rolling Stone