Articles re Tesla—Fact or Fiction?

[The Blue Owl]

Wow, simply unbelievable the number of jumps to conclusions this "article" makes. The comment section was even more antagonistic than normal as well. As a contrarian, it was somewhat nice to see that there are still plenty of people who believe Tesla will be bankrupt soon, but the ignorance of many of the commentators regarding how long it takes to charge the car, the continued assumption that you have to charge at a charging station vs. charging at home, the continued assumption that only "green" environmental type people would ever even consider purchasing such a car, and the belief that simple physics dooms Tesla... I mean the ignorance is staggering. And I say that with a bit of trepidation because the moment you start calling other people ignorant is the moment your own ignorance sneaks up on you. But seriously, the assumptions many of the commentators make are so easily refuted with 5 - 10 minutes of internet research.

Like I said, I suppose its good because that means there are a lot of people who will eventually see the light if things go the way I expect, and then they will decide to buy the stock at a much higher price than it currently demands. This may take a while, but it really feels like the spring is tightening again. I think the spring is released at the end of Q1 when the Model X ramp up surprises everyone, similar to Q1 2013, which I unfortunately was not a part of because I had barely heard of Tesla back then.

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. of the WSJ has a history of malicious, vitriolic articles against Tesla. Cory Johnson is entertaining at least, whereas this guy is just angry. He doesn't write based on incomplete information; he writes purely based on his ideology, so evidence is irrelevant to him. His Tesla articles are idiotic, but he has a big platform, unfortunately. And as you noted, his audience swallows it up hook, line, and sinker.

 

[aznt1217]

Here's How Elon Musk Takes Tesla to 500,000 Cars in Five Years - Bloomberg Business

wow good read for a change

 

[SteveG3]

For any academic who wants to prove "efficient market theory" is not some sort of universal rule of equity pricing, Tesla is a phenomenal case study. There are people not only offering shallow analysis an individual investor can get beyond with modest effort, there are those actively working to spread as widely as possible outright false information. This has been the case for years, and I strongly suspect, will be for years to come.

 

[Curt Renz]

This one is pretty bad.

Insight: Tesla burns cash, loses more than $4,000 on every car sold - Yahoo Finance

It's taking facts and twisting it for headlines.

Indeed that is ridiculous FUD about imagined losses on each new car sold. Actually, Tesla enjoys a hefty profit margin on each new car sold. The authors disingenuously count development expenses for future car models, energy storage systems and the battery Gigafactory. They make it appear that each additional car sold further reduces profits. Pure nonsense.

The fact that the misleading article was written by Detroit based reporters is not inconsequential. Their abilities to gather information on the auto industry are highly dependent on keeping lines of communication open by pleasing Detroit auto executives. Pleasing California based Tesla Motors is of little or no concern to them. Meanwhile, Detroit automakers advertise heavily in the media that rely on Reuters articles. Tesla Motors advertises nowhere.

 

[SteveG3]

Investors Business Daily blows out all previous records for FUD density. In six very brief paragraphs (2 to 5 lines long each), they cram in

-"electric plug-ins are actually coal- and natural gas-powered cars"

-"Throughout its existence, the automaker has raked in "almost 4 billion in government support in the form of special tax breaks,.."

-"massive government favoritism"

-"Tesla loses more than $4,000 on every car its sells"

- Insinuation of crooked accounting, "that's just what Tesla is disclosing, however. The true figure might actually be much higher"

and they tie it all up with,

"If it wasn't clear before, it's surely clear now why Tesla is asking Washington for higher fuel economy standards. It wants to wipe out the competition and force everyone in the country into a full-size slot car. That seems to be the only way it can build and sell cars without forcing taxpayers to support a billionaire's hobby business."

Unlike many Wall Street Journal articles about Tesla, common sense and reality have a sizable voice in the comments section,

http://news.investors.com/081015-765976-tesla-burns-billions-in-taxpayer-subsidies-to-stay-in-business.htm?ven=yahoocp&src=aurlled&ven=yahoo

 

[ev-enthusiast]

That seems to be the only way it can build and sell cars without forcing taxpayers to support a billionaire's hobby business."

I love this sentence, it is simply incredible.
And I love the entire article, it is even more incredible!

Shows you where you can get if you first think about your objectives and later about the facts that might support your objectives.
Not a very scientific aproach
Check the facts first and afterwards think about possible impications, even if you realize you might not like some of them

 

[jhm]

Investors Business Daily blows out all previous records for FUD density. In six very brief paragraphs (2 to 5 lines long each), they cram in

-"electric plug-ins are actually coal- and natural gas-powered cars"

-"Throughout its existence, the automaker has raked in "almost 4 billion in government support in the form of special tax breaks,.."

-"massive government favoritism"

-"Tesla loses more than $4,000 on every car its sells"

- Insinuation of crooked accounting, "that's just what Tesla is disclosing, however. The true figure might actually be much higher"

and they tie it all up with,

"If it wasn't clear before, it's surely clear now why Tesla is asking Washington for higher fuel economy standards. It wants to wipe out the competition and force everyone in the country into a full-size slot car. That seems to be the only way it can build and sell cars without forcing taxpayers to support a billionaire's hobby business."

Unlike many Wall Street Journal articles about Tesla, common sense and reality have a sizable voice in the comments section,

http://news.investors.com/081015-765976-tesla-burns-billions-in-taxpayer-subsidies-to-stay-in-business.htm?ven=yahoocp&src=aurlled&ven=yahoo

Thanks for your analysis. It seems that the core of vitriol here may stem from Tesla's stance on continuing fuel economy standards. It is as if the auto industry is threatened politically by the shear success of Tesla and must attack it politically to gain it's policy objectives. Political FUD becomes even more potent as we enter presidential election season.

Just to be clear, the auto and oil industries have always wanted to be free of fuel economy and environmental regulations. They make compliance cars as a.concession to minimize the regulatory business. As the prices of oil and gasoline come down, it becomes increasingly difficult for anyone one to sell compliance cars. Thus the industry is in a position where compliance costs may actually be rising, that is they have to sell compliance cars at even lower prices to sell enough. So they industry would like to persuade voters and politicians that these regulatory burdens must be lifted. However, Tesla comes along and shows the industry how to make high value, attractive vehicles that just happen to meet all the regulatory hurdles. This makes the industry look bad, and undermines their political argument. But it gets worse. In the midst of low gas prices, Tesla's sales grow, and they are now bringing an SUV to market. SUVs are the cream puffs of the auto industry. These are the vehicles for which the industry cross-subsidizes econo cars. If the Model X proves to be as competitive in the SUV space as the Model S is in the sedan space, the auto industry will face margin compression on their highest margin products. This leaves only trucks to be the bacon of the industry. Depriving the industry of cream puffs and bacon will undermine the economics of the whole auto industry. Moreover, the Model 3 will challenge the industry to move to mid market segments to maintain market share. In this context, Tesla has the gall to call them out on their compliance car game. The industry refuses to change and would rather launch a smear campaign against Tesla. Political FUD has at its core a political motive.

 

[EldestOyster]

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Gains New Challenger: Fisker To Restart Production Of Luxury Electric Hybrid Vehicle

Well, I was hoping to find the emoticon of the guy running around in circles screaming like it's the end of the world.
Fear the Hybrid. :wink:

 

[atang]

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Gains New Challenger: Fisker To Restart Production Of Luxury Electric Hybrid Vehicle

Well, I was hoping to find the emoticon of the guy running around in circles screaming like it's the end of the world.
Fear the Hybrid. :wink:

Thanks for the great chuckle

 

[MartinAustin]

And now this:

Tesla is entering another crisis - Yahoo Finance

But the move also signaled Tesla's admission that it's entering its fourth major crisis since the company's founding in 2003.

I did not see that admission myself, but interesting that Tesla admitted that. LOL

Methinks the crisis is actually at Yahoo Finance's clickbait-generating/headline-writing department.

 

[replicant]

Most links in this thread shouldn't pass PageRank to the linked articles. By linking to them without including rel="nofollow" in the <a> tag, we are all encouraging the publication of misleading and clickbaiting articles. TMC is a well-known and trustworthy forum, and we keep giving high-quality backlink juice to despicable websites.

 

[atang]

And now this:

Tesla is entering another crisis - Yahoo Finance

But the move also signaled Tesla's admission that it's entering its fourth major crisis since the company's founding in 2003.

I did not see that admission myself, but interesting that Tesla admitted that. LOL

Methinks the crisis is actually at Yahoo Finance's clickbait-generating/headline-writing department.

Nice!!!!!!

 

[ev-enthusiast]

Interesting article at Gizmondo about "Tesla is that rarest of things - A 'high-end disruptor'" (link).
Reminds me of the almost 10 years old secret masterplan where Tesla Motors described that this would be the only way for an EV start up to succeed.
Nice to see this plan turning into reality as the years go by!

 

[Curt Renz]

The New York Times yesterday published an op-ed hit piece denigrating the coverage of Tesla Motors by Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas: The Tesla Cheerleader

 

[xhawk101]

The New York Times yesterday published an op-ed hit piece denigrating the coverage of Tesla Motors by Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas: The Tesla Cheerleader

Totally biased. No mention of Andrea James or othe "cheerleader analysts" that happen to agree with Adam Jonas.

 

[MitchJi]

This WSJ article is beyond biased, it's stupid:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/consumer-reports-spends-its-juice-badly-1440803078?ru=yahoo

Consumer Reports Spends Its Juice, Badly
The product reviewer raves that a new Tesla ‘broke’ its rating system, but the real culprit is in the mirror.
By HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR.
Aug. 28, 2015 7:04 p.m. ET
If, with their own money, Tesla and its customers want to revel in electric cars, that’s wonderful. Nobody should object. But why should taxpayers subsidize their hobby as if some vital public purpose is being served? And why should Consumer Reports prostitute itself in its latest review of the Tesla Model S P85D, calling it basically the best car ever, with a higher-than-possible rating of 103?

Prostitute is not too strong a word. Consumer Reports does not give away its content for free. It makes money not from...

BTW the author should look in the mirror for an example of prostitution.

 

[FluxCap]

Totally biased. No mention of Andrea James or othe "cheerleader analysts" that happen to agree with Adam Jonas.

Or the fact that Jonas' outlandishly bearish notes have also resulted in some emphatically negative share price drops over the last year, or that his "key source" Doug Kass is permanently short Tesla, or the fact that that "Tesla loses money on every car it sells" is a bold-faced lie.

 

[Drax7]

Wsj was bearish on apple on the launch of iPhone 1 when I went aggressively long .
Ever since they have no credibility with me. Bunch of clueless reporters .
Actually they are great at making you lose money.

 

[FluxCap]

A friend of mine runs a media company called Attn: that tries to break down somewhat complicated topics into terms that younger generations find accessible. Here's an article on Tesla with a kind of hyperbolic title, but thought we might like to have a little non-negative fodder in this thread once in awhile:
The Tesla Energy Batteries are Huge for Solar Power

 

[winfield100]

a little non-negative fodder in this thread once in awhile:

for a tiny bit non negative fodder from Seeking Alpha, do a search on authors "randy Carlson" i read his stuff pretty much only, cut my reading there down about +97%