Here are some random thoughts on the board and the stock...
1. I think all the chatter here about what's allowable on the board and what's not, and the splitting of threads, has quieted the voices and diversity of the stock talk.
2. As some of the more experienced traders expressed, spirits seemed a bit frothy at times with newbie traders mistaking speculation for investing, lucky speculators mistaking luck for skill, and some momentum traders thinking it would always go up because that what it had done in the past. A calming of those spirits is probably a good thing in the long run.
3. Some folks were probably overextended on options or margin, and got caught by the fire, downgrades and downward pressure caused by the gov't shutdown. It doesn't feel good to lose real money. Someone previously posted that stocks move in the direction that causes the greatest pain to the most people. There's some truth to that. Things correct. Sentiment is cyclical.
4. Aside from the fire, there hasn't been a lot of news out of Tesla lately (Germany doesn't count as big news IMHO), which makes the stock more beholden to technical factors and fear. If you think about it, it's really silly for people to buy or sell based on technical factors alone, except of course for the reason that other people do which means *it is* a viable strategy for some pros, sometimes. That said, no stock has a future on technical factors alone. In the long run, fundamentals are what matter. In the absence of news, and with the momentum weakened for reasons mentioned above, we're in more of a drifting mode now. We're more vulnerable to the constant hating and naysaying of shorts and Seeking Alphas of the world which may well flush out more traders, and some nervous or over-extended longs. To the extent weaker hands' shares are being picked up by longer term holders (dare I say value buyers?), it'll augur well for the future. I'd rather see more TSLA shares in the hands of long term longs than short term traders.
5. Put things in perspective. The stock is up massively over the last six months. We're only off about 12% from the all time highs. The long term trend is still solid. Until the evidence says otherwise, the company is still firing all eight proverbial ICE-free cylinder-free cylinders. If I had extra cash, I'd be accumulating shares or long term calls on any continued weakness.
Earnings can't come soon enough because earnings will refocus investors on what matters most, and that's the fundamentals of competitive advantage, production, shipments and execution.
Good luck all!
