Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[Etna]

@KarenRei I saw your tweet, the literal reading of the characters chosen to represent Tesla or 特斯拉 is phonetics for Te Si La = Tesla.

 

[UncaNed]

Great post. Finally, we have this resolved.

If only. I bet we're not done yet.

Not that I'm not guilty myself of OT posts...

 

[Nocturnal]

Thoughts on “middle America” and Cybertruck:

Has any analyst seen the people that drive trucks in today’s day and age? The stereotype of the Marlborough man stacking fence posts in the back is not the reality. Literally suburban dads (and moms) drive trucks now, and California is a massive market not the typical “middle America.”
So that market stereotype shortchanges and misidentifies the actual addressable market.

Also, have any analysts actually seen what modern trucks look like? They are very much in the direction of “new look” already. So, a “cyber” look may not be all that shocking to design sensibilities of the market place. In addition, the military vehicles (which could be interpreted as tough and durable) have a very cyber/mad max look to them right now, which could also make the introduction of a “cyber” APC looking truck be less jarring and actually may increase appeal among the marketplace.

Lastly, the numbers are the bottomline. If this truck can perform at altitude in the Rockies as it could at a race track at sea level... if it can tow 300k lbs. at altitude, going up a grade over the grapevine like a model 3 at the track... if it can have instantaneous, precision, independent four wheel drive... if it can charge power tools in the field, have access to fast charging across the vast supercharger network... if it can drive itself, in order to free up the rancher to continue work in the field while the truck off loads-onloads materials in the meantime...

The appeal is endless, the real market is ready, and the fear of the rest of the industry is palpable as innovation and unified clear company electrification mission is once again showing the winning formula for future success in the auto industry.

Take note or take unemployment benefits. Your choice auto industry.

Also worth noting that in cold weather, many people have to plug in their diesel trucks as well just to allow them to get to operating temp (or even start). If you already have to plug your truck in every night and THEN go fill it up in the morning...

One of the worst drives of my life was in a diesel box truck. Driving from rural PA to NYC in about 5 degree weather. The engine never got warm and we had to continually scrape ice off the inside of the windshield. Even my Dad's tow vehicle, a top of the line excursion would get really grumpy at start up when temps were far below freezing.

Using an Engine Heater in a Diesel Engine for Cold-Weather Starts - dummies

If you’re planning to buy a diesel, be sure to ask which heating devices are included in the purchase price. If you live in a cold climate or do much traveling, consider having several devices available for extreme weather conditions. The following sections describe some of your options.

• Block heaters: Many diesels come equipped with built-in electric-powered block heaters to keep the engine block warm overnight. You just park the vehicle, plug the heater cord into a heavy-duty three-pronged extension cord, and then plug the extension cord into a 110-volt electrical socket that can handle a three-pronged plug. When shopping, don’t skimp on the length of the extension cord — it can be 50 feet to a socket from a motel parking lot! In Alaska, where a block heater is vital, electrical outlets are built right into some parking meters.
  
  When buying a heater, consult the charts at an auto parts store or dealership to match the wattage of the heater to the size of your engine and the range of weather you expect to encounter. When plugged in, a high-wattage heater will run up your electric bills unnecessarily if you have a small engine or don’t expect the temperature to go below zero very often.
  
  
• Battery warmers: If your diesel doesn’t start in cold weather and you remembered to plug in the block heater, your battery may be the culprit. Batteries can lose 35 percent of their power at 32 degrees F and as much as 60 percent at 0 degrees F.
  
  This problem has two remedies: You can buy a battery with greater capacity (providing that there’s room for one under the hood), or you can buy a battery warmer. The two most popular models, both of which simply plug into a nearby 110-volt socket, are
  
  
  • The “hot plate” warmer, which simply slides under the battery like a cookie sheet and warms its little toesies.
    
    
  • The “electric blanket” warmer, which wraps around the battery and uses more current than the hot plate version to deal with really frigid situations.
    
• Oil warmers: You can buy a heated dipstick to heat the oil in the engine crankcase — you just trade it for your normal dipstick and plug it into an electrical outlet.
  

If your heater isn’t able to combat the cold effectively, if you have an electric hair dryer and a long enough extension cord to get it to the vehicle, try turning the dryer on and putting the nozzle into the car’s air inlet duct. The warm air should help your engine warm up faster.

Never use engine-starting fluids to start your engine — no matter how eager you are to get underway. The ether in these fluids can ignite at such low temperatures that you risk a fire or an explosion. Although the containers carry instructions, measuring the “safe” proportions required is just too hard. If you feel that you must use this stuff, have a starting-fluid injection kit installed instead.

 

[T@oo]

I can't imagine the factory itself being built out of timber, but office buildings, housing, furnishings, non-work-area flooring, etc would be a great idea. Just so long as they make it clear what they're doing with it, and connected to the project somehow, to get rid of the (inaccurate) notion that it's "wasted".

You can‘t use freshly cut wood for anything as you know. Needs to rest and dry a few years. But then!

 

[humbaba]

Nuance. Note the last line.

factoid | Origin and meaning of factoid by Online Etymology Dictionary

View attachment 479565



-oid | Origin and meaning of suffix -oid by Online Etymology Dictionary

View attachment 479566

"Incomplete or imperfect" != "fake". Sorting English -oid words by length, skimming through and picking out the relatively-common ones where the oid isn't just part of the stem (or some other suffix): geoid, ovoid, zooid, conoid, cuboid, feloid, opioid, toroid, viroid, amoeboid, benzoid, cactoid...

These don't mean fake. They mean "similar, but not completely same".

Sure, but what does "similar to a fact, but not completely same" mean? I take it to mean something that has the semblance of a fact, but is not. That certainly sounds like it could be a fake newsoid to me.

 

[KarenRei]

@KarenRei I saw your tweet, the literal reading of the characters chosen to represent Tesla or 特斯拉 is phonetics for Te Si La = Tesla.

Yes, but hanzi have independent meanings as well. I'm curious as to what those are. I'm aware that the compound means nothing other than "Tesla"; I'm just wondering what they chose for the derivation, since there's many ways you can make that sound.

ED: Since I don't know these characters, using wwwjdic (Japanese, but most characters have relatively similar meanings to Chinese), I see that in Japanese they look like "particularly-such/this-crush". Hmm... :Þ

 

[Christine69420]

@KarenRei I saw your tweet, the literal reading of the characters chosen to represent Tesla or 特斯拉 is phonetics for Te Si La = Tesla.

> Te Si La

Which in norwegian is the word for tea strainers. Somehow this makes me feel whole and complete.


*) The way Te Si La is spoken - not written.

 

[jerry33]

Yes, but hanzi have independent meanings as well. I'm curious as to what those are. I'm aware that the compound means nothing other than "Tesla"; I'm just wondering what they chose for the derivation, since there's many ways you can make that sound.

特= special 斯 = this, thus 拉 = crush (or kidnap, but that probably wasn't what they had in mind)
EDIT = 拉 in Chinese means pull. The crush or kidnap is actually Japanese. The others are the same in both.

 

[Mike Smith]

Just converted all my calls into shares. This still feels like a 'buy the rumor, sell the news' event to me, unless something really unexpectedly positive is announced.

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

RayTesla️ on Twitter

At least one MIC M3 in a Chinese store for display.

I love the dumbass comment who circles a big white "scratch" on the trunk of the blue MIC M3 that suspiciously looks like the reflection of the window trim of a Model X behind it with its FW door open

 

[Skryll]

@KarenRei I saw your tweet, the literal reading of the characters chosen to represent Tesla or 特斯拉 is phonetics for Te Si La = Tesla.

Not 'Special S Pull' (google translate with new lines between the characters to force translating each by itself) ?

 

[UncaNed]

My prediction for the SP. If the truck reveal tonight shows a more mainstream truck that is well-received by fans and the media, I think we will test the ATH in the very near future. If the truck is truly as cyberpunk or futuristic, or just flat out ugly as heck, we will stay in the $300-$360 range until the Model Y enters production. I simply don't see any other catalyst out there to push us to an ATH since everyone has priced in the China factory spitting out cars THIS year (which will turn into a negative if no cars are delivered in 2019), the yearly deliveries estimate of 360-400k will either be a meet or fall short (with deliveries being stalled from the Shanghia factory, >400k just doesn't seem possible), and I don't think we will have another surprise earnings beat in the next 2 quarters.

I just don't see what else besides the truck reveal that can push us higher until the Y starts production. Hope I'm wrong.

Quarter 4 Earnings Report?

 

[Nocturnal]

I love the dumbass comment who circles a big white "scratch" on the trunk of the blue MIC M3 that suspiciously looks like the reflection of the window trim of a Model X behind it with its FW door open

View attachment 479571

You found a regular Sherlock Holmes there. Unravelling the mysteries of our time.

 

[Fact Checking]

Spoiler: Tonight!

 

[EVNow]

... unless Tesla announces that Model 3 is sold out through Q2. With the FCA deal, the Eurozone will buy every single Model 3 made in Fremont @ 2x profit vs sale in the U.S.

Just because there is a FCA deal, it doesn't mean EU will buy every model 3 Tesla can ship. We are going to get Netherland sales drop off in Q1, not sure who will take its place. So, even the 30k in Europe that we saw in Q3 may not be sustained in Q1, let alone pickup all the US slack.

In anycase, it makes little sense to announce that now. Even if by some miracle there will be Y sales in Q1 (what volume ?) - its best to announce it on the day the configuration opens.

 

[UncaNed]

I have a couple really cheap calls for 11/22, 385-415. I doubt they will be worth anything but perhaps we are due for a big surprise at launch. I could see a big shock to the truck market if this product is done correctly. A model 3 performance is superior to an M3 in almost every way, but it doesn't do much differently (ignoring FSD stuff), but a crazy Tesla pickup could have wildly different features than a standard truck. Fingers crossed.

It could go the other way too though. Tesla has proven that they can bring mass market products to customers in large numbers at a profit. That makes promising new vehicles interesting, rather than just pie in the sky promises.

Best of luck, may the Macros line up in your favor, and may the Truck knock everyone's socks off!

Good of you to share. I'm just trying to figure out how calls work, and what might be within the realm of reasonable possibility... So they expire tomorrow, strike prices 385-415... Just wondering what they cost and when you bought them... and why?

 

[dww12]

So here is a pic from the Tesla Solar facebook group. V3 going up. Good news, V3 is real, bad news first install taking longer than 1 day, for now.

 

[MTL_HABS1909]

Chanos replied to Elon. Notice how he didn’t deny covering....

 

[lklundin]

Your interpretation may be correct, although I don't have enough information to be positive.

If documented deliveries start hitting the news tomorrow, that should be minor-rally material on its own.

It's unfortunate that it's been a while since we got a drone video out of GF3. I'd love to see if it looks like they've been upping their production rate.

Good points. My guess is that with today all necessary permits for MIC Model 3 sales are in place, but production so far has happened in only very limited numbers(*) - with that production apparently being allocated to show rooms.

(*) Various recent GF3 videos show either no or few trucks backed up to the delivery gates, so large scale parts deliveries have not started - here is one from Nov. 15, @47s:
Chao Zhou on Twitter

 

[dww12]

PSA Wompy wheels is a thing. It happened to me. The adhesive for the foam comes off and the foam makes a ball in your tire. You will get a tire that goes in and out of balance at 60+ mph. Luckily this a tire warranty issue, got a replacement tire and it’s fixed.