General Discussion: 2018 Investor Roundtable

[defc0n]

Great, wire shark is for network snooping.

Or just packet analysis. I’ve used it multiple times to troubleshoot problems at work. Absolutely doesn’t mean anything nefarious.

Disclaimer: I’m a software engineer

 

[Stretch2727]

and other news that really matters.

BMW 3 Series @ 3551 down 30% in June. Overall BMW sales flat in the US even with the launch of the X2.

MB C Class @ 5742 down 19% Overall MB sales down 10%. Mainly blaming a shortage of SUV's due to supplier fire.

Audi A4 Sales @ 3893 up 12% Overall Audi sales flat. Interesting Audi seems to be doing well with cars where MB and BMW are strong in SUV's.

Model 3 - If Inside EV's is correct at 6062 beat them all. If they can deliver the 11K in transit and just 2-3K from early July production in July they will have beat all 3 combined this month.

 

[kelly]

I guess I'm just too naive. I always thought journalists simply reported the facts, as in who, what, where, when and how. That kind of thing. All this hubbub about Linette Lopez is causing me to read more about her. I found this quote a bit shocking, as it reflects a bias that she is apparently proud of:
" The Match King, by Frank Partnoy, is another really important book—especially if you want to report on Elon Musk right now. It’s about this Swedish billionaire named Ivar Kreuger who created a match monopoly throughout Europe in the 1920s. He was a true huckster who was overstretching, and he’s the reason why companies now have to report quarterly earnings in the U.S."
From this article 2016 article: Business Reporter Linette Lopez on Money, Power, and Making It on Wall Street

I have no problem with an editorial, designated as such, that voices a biased opinion. But I always thought "journalists" stayed away from editorializing. This is just too discouraging if this is how journalists at "top notch" journalism schools are being trained.

 

[Off Shore]

Please don't. It's important to educate bystanders

No, it's not.

 

[Rarity]

I don’t believe anything the guy says. He gave FALSE info to the media, which directly contradicts this particular statement. He broke an NDA, he put malware on other employees’ computers, he’s already changed his story once before and on it goes.

He’s a thief with no honor. Not credible.

But was he the one who just "went on record" to say that Lopez had offered to pay him and that he had transmitted Tesla IP to her? This was a weirdly worded tweet. Who knows, maybe it was just a clumsy tweet. Or it could be a bit of fishing.

An ex-Tesla employee just went on record formally claiming you bribed him & he sent you valuable Tesla IP in exchange. Is this true?

 

[30seconds]

I have unfortunately worked with multiple shady business journalists. Many have a strong slant that is the basic story well before any interviews take place and don’t include much, if any, contradictory material. Most other business journalists consider this to be “ethical.”

 

[30seconds]

The real problem is that this is turning into a media circus and taken away the focus from the Model 3 production ramp.

This is what the shorts have no coherent answer to

 

[bonnie]

If someone here wanted to dig in on this further, there is some remnants of code and other stuff scattered around using the name 'martytripp'.

Timestamps on most of it show creation either last year or the year before.

Follow the link at the bottom of this tweet for one example.

Bonnie Norman on Twitter

Not all about network traffic: Disqus Profile - martytripp

 

[Quassinoid]

All this is making Tesla look worse.

I disagree. EM is truly living up to his nickname of Ironman. Going out there on the battlefront and taking the fight to its source. Yeah, he may sustain some wounds along the way, but just showing up and fighting a good fight speaks volumes about the kind of person he is and how far he's willing to go to protect his company and its mission. If people are consciously misleading investors about Tesla (or any company for that matter), whether inside or outside the company, those people should be exposed. If people are engaging in illegal activities against a company, whether inside or outside the company, those people should be brought to justice. I think EM is in a unique position to expose those who mislead investors on Tesla. I also believe, over the long haul, it does more good than harm.

 

[mblakele]

Not all about network traffic: Disqus Profile - martytripp

Bonnie, this is very interesting and you may be right — but do you have reason to believe these are all the same Marty Tripp? It isn't a unique name, and it's always embarrassing to hang the wrong man.

I checked LinkedIn and found several individuals named Marty or Martin Tripp. I didn't find any obvious association with Tesla. But there were one or two who probably have nothing to do with this imbroglio, and who might well be posting online about swift, arduino, or wireshark. That's without considering younger folks who might not have a LinkedIn profile yet, but might be dabbling with any of those technologies.

 

[neroden]

Linette Lopez is a professional journalist

This means "is paid to write articles". Putin's troll farms are also professional journalists. Technically.

with a degree from a prestigious journalism program

Which one? I'm not impressed by degrees in any case; Jared Kushner has a degree from Harvard, to use an extreme example.

who's been working for Business Insider for 7 years.

Business Insider is run by an actual criminal who is permanently banned from the securities industry for securities fraud -- Henry Blodget.

Would you suggest that it shows poor judgement to work for him, or poor ethics, or perhaps hunger and inability to get a decent job? I would say it requires one of the three.

 

[neroden]

I wonder where and when Tripp stated that Lopez paid him or promised to pay him

Yes, that's an interesting question. Musk is scrupulous in his backward-looking statements, so I believe Musk when he says that this statement from Tripp is "on the record" and asks Lopez whether it is true. (Since Tripp has been changing his story, who knows whether Tripp's claim is true.)

 

[neroden]

The question "did you bribe a source" is insulting to every professional journalists.

When the source says you bribed him, it's a valid question. If the journalist finds it insulting, she can always say "No, of course not, he's lying".

 

[ZsoZso]

I choose to believe that publications like...

• The Wall Street Journal
• Business Insider
• Market Watch
• The New York Times

... don't **** around with money or advertisers getting anywhere close to their journalists.

I mean, the WSJ took down Theranos while the publication's owner had a massive stake in the company.

The idea that there's some grand conspiracy that includes "big media" is just pure Trumpism.

Funny you mention The New York Times, remember this:
Stalled on the E.V. Highway
And the other side of the story:
Tesla's Gotcha Blog Catches New York Times Reporter Driving In Circles

You might find the following an educational read:
Elon Musk and the Corporate Controlled Media

Some interesting highlights:

"The First Amendment allows anyone who owns a printing press or newspaper to lie with impunity. "

In a bizarre decision adopting Fox’s argument, an appellate court, dominated by former corporate lawyers, reversed the lower court’s finding, holding that the FCC ban on lying did not qualify as a “law, rule or regulation,” since it had been created over the years in decisions by FCC judges and never promulgated in a rulemaking process.

This decision effectively made it legal for networks to lie in news reports to please their advertisers.

In 2014, I was involved in the creation of a documentary critical of big Pharma, I asked him for an opportunity to discuss the subject on Neal Cavuto’s talk show. His answer was a hard “No!”

“Bobby,” he told me, “during non-election years, the bulk of news division revenue comes from pharmaceutical advertisers. I would fire any Fox host who allowed you on their show. And if I didn’t Rupert [Murdoch, the network owner] would be on the phone with me in 10 minutes demanding scalps.”

 

[Zhelko Dimic]

When the source says you bribed him, it's a valid question. If the journalist finds it insulting, she can always say "No, of course not, he's lying".

I'll bet she doesn't want to answer because 'It's complicated'

 

[neroden]

Well, at this point I actually hope he's able to prove the connection between Tripp, Linette and Chanos.

Apperently Lopez has admitted to using Tripp as a source. And, as many have noted, strangely failed to deny that she paid Tripp.

A link to Chanos will be harder to prove; he uses intermediaries.

 

[neroden]

I don't give Tripp an ounce of credibility. I agree that he seems like an idiot.

Linette has admitted to using him as a primary source.

But I do give Business Insider and Linette credibility.

Why? For Linette, see above; we know she's relying on a source which you give no credibility to, so why do you give her credibility?

For Business Insider, look at its founder, who is permanently barred from the securities business for securities fraud. I'd think you'd be slightly skeptical of their credibility.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

Apperently Lopez has admitted to using Tripp as a source. And, as many have noted, strangely failed to deny that she paid Tripp.

A link to Chanos will be harder to prove; he uses intermediaries.

It's instructive to realize that no link was ever proven in a court of law between Chanos and the agents he hired to destroy Fairfax. No one really thinks about it now, but the lawsuit Fairfax filed against Chanos was actually dismissed some time later. The purpose of the lawsuit, to get Chanos to leave Fairfax alone, was ultimately successful, but Chanos was never actually proven to have engaged in any wrongdoing.

 

[SteveG3]

I don't give Tripp an ounce of credibility. I agree that he seems like an idiot.

But I do give Business Insider and Linette credibility. Business Insider isn't a random blog like electrek or insideevs - this is a massive website, one of the most viewed in the world.

And the Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider has put the entire publication's credibility on the line by standing up for Linette.

The idea that a reporter from Business Insider paid a source is just wrong. It's wrong on several levels. Lorette would know better given her background and training at arguably the best undergraduate journalism program. And Business Insider wouldn't allow it.

-------------------------------------------------------

If Tesla actually had evidence that Linette paid Tripp, why haven't they released it? Why don't they just outright state the accusation rather than masking it in questions?

If they don't have evidence, then what the hell is Elon doing on twitter?

lols, Business Imsider was co-founded in 2009 by Henry Blodget AFTER he was barred for life from the securities industry after having been convicted of violating securities laws.

 

[SteveG3]

It's instructive to realize that no link was ever proven in a court of law between Chanos and the agents he hired to destroy Fairfax. No one really thinks about it now, but the lawsuit Fairfax filed against Chanos was actually dismissed some time later. The purpose of the lawsuit, to get Chanos to leave Fairfax alone, was ultimately successful, but Chanos was never actually proven to have engaged in any wrongdoing.

I read Taibbi’s account of Fairfax, Chanos, etc in his book The Divide about a week ago. My recollection is that Taibbi’s view was that Chanos was let off charges by a Judge’s contention that the location of the trial, New Jersey, did not allow for his inclusion as a defendant.