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

[Mo City]

If Newsom had any say in the matter, Tesla would already be operating again. This is a county level issue, Newsoms opinion is basically irrelevant, unless he wants to revoke the right of the counties to be more restrictive than the state, which I don't see happening.

If Newsom is worth a plugged nickel, he's already been in contact with Elon and the county and will settle this over the weekend. Freemont will open no later than May 18.

If the gov is above average, he'll take a back seat when the news is announced and let the county save face.

 

[Reductionist]

Sorry, but I don’t think this is a bluff. Read the wording - he is stating that HQ will move. Frankly, Elon doesn’t bluff and once pushed beyond his limits, does not back down. CA has lost this war already.

I think it's likely that the headquarters moving is a done deal. My comments were with regard to the Fremont plant, which has billions of dollars worth of production lines installed that would be difficult to move efficiently. If Alameda backs down quickly, I dont't think they will move existing manufacturing capacity away from Fremont, but time will tell i guess...

 

[X Fan]

I would think your comment was relevant if the Oakland Raiders made and innovated things that could be exported and hired thousands of well-paid workers. But I'm not sure creating traffic jams, pollution and making popcorn and hotdogs, pretzels and selling $10 crappy beer qualifies. I say, good riddance!

You feel that way about the Seahawks, Sounders, SuperSonics, Mariners, Univ of Washington?

Collectively, they provide a huge tax base and bring joy to many residents in the Seattle area (btw: I lived there in the late 70’s).

Businesses abandoning a marketplace for another location represent a loss....

 

[Krugerrand]

This is a totally overblown reaction by Elon, as usual. This lockdown is more than likely going to end much sooner rather than later and this pissing match can easily be avoided.

Just in case Elon has forgotten, CA has been SO good to Tesla, in fact if it wasn't for CA there would be NO Tesla. TX does not even allow him to sell cars. Now he want's to tell CA to take a hike????

For all the conspiracy and anti-government people on this board, what is the reason that the state would like to see Tesla fail? OR keep it's residents from being employed? Neither of those scenarios are good for the state as it has to spend more on benefits for those that are unemployed and misses out on collecting much needed income tax. The simple answer is that there is NO reason that CA wants to see Tesla remain closed other than trying their best to manage this health crisis. Bottom line .. it's not really in ANYONE'S best interest to keep Tesla shut down. (Save for maybe traditional auto makers)

I've got family members who are ER doctors and my wife is also a health care worker in a major hospital in Southern CA (PT) ... she will be seeing Covid 19 patients very soon. Her department already is and they are anticipating that everyone in the department will very soon. Ask any of them if they would rather err on the side of caution with regards to opening up the state and I'd bet you would find that they probably do. Newsom has already said that the process will be in stages and with success in the next few weeks one can easily see Tesla getting the green light very soon.

Regardless, this reaction by Elon is unwarranted .... and childish ... as far as I'm concerned it's not responsible rhetoric from a CEO .... look at the BIGGER picture. Staying closed for a few additional weeks won't change the Tesla story long term and I defy anyone to explain how it will.


Cheers to the longs


EDIT: To those that disagree with me .... just tell me how staying shut for a few more weeks changes the long term story for Tesla at all. I'm all ears ....

Whether you think his outburst is warranted or not, the fact is: he’s had it. Whether you think a few more weeks of shutdown is an issue for Tesla or not is irrelevant. The fact is: he’s over it.

Now you need to take that information and decide if he means it or is talking out his ear.

I’ve been paying attention and I believe he’s going to do it. It won’t happen overnight, but I can easily believe Fremont will wind down to nothing within 5 years’ time frame.

 

[CorneliusXX]

View attachment 540097
I disagreed with you because the tweets from Elon regarding lawsuit are perfectly logical and sane. They do not sound crazy or petulant child. If anything, they are clear concise and express exactly his reasons and actions.
View attachment 540097

Completely agree. Tesla has an effective plan to mitigate COVID issues that has provably worked elsewhere and they have clearly been in unproductive discussions with the local government for some time.

Regulatory shopping is the prudent course of action for any company. Apple does it with its double Dutch Irish tax scheme and manufacturers have been outsourcing (which is just another word for regulatory shopping) for half a century.

Given the local government is effectively stopping Tesla from enacting its core business for an unknown period of time, the sagacious course of action is to reallocate resources to minimise government risk.

 

[EV forever]

That's simply not fair. The state, along with almost every other official in charge of anything health related, is trying to figure this whole situation out. Pardon them if they can't give you a definitive date as to when this pandemic will end or be controlled to the point of getting back to anything resembling "normal". It's going in stages ... maybe they need to see how the first stage works out before deciding to move further? That just seems responsible to me.

“They are trying to figure it out” May have been the case 6 weeks back, but not anymore. Now they are just punting the decision to future date. And about wanting to see effect of stage 1 before proceeding, someone here mentioned 14 days or even 4-6 months as 14 days is not enough to see impact on infection rate. So, how long exactly after the florists open do we wait? Another 2 weeks, or 4 weeks or 6 weeks? The county officials overstepped their authority and now CA suffers the consequences. I an furious as a native Californian to lose Tesla because of this stupidity from the county and lack of backbone from the Governer.

 

[feigen66]

That's simply not fair. The state, along with almost every other official in charge of anything health related, is trying to figure this whole situation out. Pardon them if they can't give you a definitive date as to when this pandemic will end or be controlled to the point of getting back to anything resembling "normal". It's going in stages ... maybe they need to see how the first stage works out before deciding to move further? That just seems responsible to me.

I found it quite amusing the same people cursing Elon as billionaires out of touch and childish while stating people with no income could wait a few more weeks.

Maybe I should invite you to food bank. People are eating cast off food now, and damn, we should feel proud about flattening the curve.

Bay Area Chef Now Feeding Thousands With Cast-Off Food During Pandemic

 

[StealthP3D]

You feel that way about the Seahawks, Sounders, SuperSonics, Mariners, Univ of Washington?

Absolutely! I wish they didn't suck up so much tax revenue and cause so many traffic jams. Absolutely ridiculous!

 

[uujjj]

It's time for the board to fire Elon Musk.

 

[SMAlset]

As someone who might move at some point - I worry about kids education. Are they still against teaching evolution ? How is racism compared to west coast ?

The most important thing about west coast I think is the mobility. Its so easy to switch companies - there are so many good companies to work for.

Elon already kind of home schools his kids and some other SpaceX techs’ kids from what I understand so Texas wouldn’t be a problem for him. Now for the rest of his line workers’ families, not the same.

 

[jerry33]

I’ve been paying attention and I believe he’s going to do it. It won’t happen overnight, but I can easily believe Fremont will wind down to nothing within 5 years’ time frame.

Agreed. Over the next few years, Fremont will be not particularly important to Tesla (similar to how the S and X aren't as important to Tesla as they were in the early years.) It still might be where they test out new types of production because the engineers are close by, but it won't be a 500K car per year factory anymore.

 

[mblakele]

This is a few days old, but I don't think it's been posted. Includes details of new safety measures at the Nevada GF.

Tesla Gigafactory to reopen May 4th

Tesla's board of directors learned late Thursday the Gigafactory in Sparks is scheduled to reopen May 4, said President and CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, Mike Kazmierski.

Some of the new guidelines put in place to keep workers safe and to adhear to the safety regulations of organizations like OSHA include:

Masks will be required in some workstations to supplement social distancing protocols and anyone may use face coverings voluntarily. Employees will also have access to gloves in PPE vending machines for normal work needs and disposable gloves will be available across production areas in the cafe.

Employees will be instructed to work within social distancing protocols and teams are encouraged to take additional breaks to stagger work in order to both comply with social distancing protocols and to complete frequent multi-day disinfecting of high-touch work stations.

Tesla will use temperature screening on workers coming into the factory as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Gigafactory temperature takers will use an AOJ-20F Infrared Thermometer, which is a medical non-contact thermometer to accomplish this task. If an employee's temperature measures greater than 100.4 he or she will be asked to return home.

If there is a confirmed COVID-19 case at Tesla, the Company's protocol is to interview the individual, investigate their whereabouts and speak with their managers to determine the best of their ability who had contact with the individual at work. Tesla representatives will speak with all individuals who had direct and extended contact, and those individuals will be asked to self-quarantine to watch for symptoms.

Tesla's janitorial team is disinfecting door handles and push bars before and after shift changes, as well as every hour at the main facility entrances. When employees enter the building, hand sanitizer and surface sanitizer wipes are provided for employees. There are also surface sanitizer wipes for additional elective use throughout the facility.

Transportation shuttles are capped at 30 percent of maximum capacity so employees are able to sit greater than six feet apart from one another.

For workstations and tasks with employees less than six feet apart, Tesla engineering teams have built workstation partitions to protect operators from COVID-19. Where barriers couldn't be erected quickly, workstations were de-staffed and production line outputs reduced or paused.

Additionally, there is now only online ordering for Cafe food services, partitions have been installed at IT helpdesks, and small conference rooms are closed.​

 

[CorneliusXX]

This is a totally overblown reaction by Elon, as usual. This lockdown is more than likely going to end much sooner rather than later and this pissing match can easily be avoided.

Just in case Elon has forgotten, CA has been SO good to Tesla, in fact if it wasn't for CA there would be NO Tesla. TX does not even allow him to sell cars. Now he want's to tell CA to take a hike????

For all the conspiracy and anti-government people on this board, what is the reason that the state would like to see Tesla fail? OR keep it's residents from being employed? Neither of those scenarios are good for the state as it has to spend more on benefits for those that are unemployed and misses out on collecting much needed income tax. The simple answer is that there is NO reason that CA wants to see Tesla remain closed other than trying their best to manage this health crisis. Bottom line .. it's not really in ANYONE'S best interest to keep Tesla shut down. (Save for maybe traditional auto makers)

I've got family members who are ER doctors and my wife is also a health care worker in a major hospital in Southern CA (PT) ... she will be seeing Covid 19 patients very soon. Her department already is and they are anticipating that everyone in the department will very soon. Ask any of them if they would rather err on the side of caution with regards to opening up the state and I'd bet you would find that they probably do. Newsom has already said that the process will be in stages and with success in the next few weeks one can easily see Tesla getting the green light very soon.

Regardless, this reaction by Elon is unwarranted .... and childish ... as far as I'm concerned it's not responsible rhetoric from a CEO .... look at the BIGGER picture. Staying closed for a few additional weeks won't change the Tesla story long term and I defy anyone to explain how it will.


Cheers to the longs


EDIT: To those that disagree with me .... just tell me how staying shut for a few more weeks changes the long term story for Tesla at all. I'm all ears ....

The point is that we don't know that it's only a few more weeks. The "prudent" course of action as determined by the local government could be until COVID no longer exists for all we know.

 

[mblakele]

As you can clearly see, this is way more dangerous than going into a clothing store, which are permitted to reopen in Alameda.
It's really nice to see when policy is informed by rational consideration of the risks and benefits involved.

Agree with the absurdity, but I don't think Alameda County is allowing clothing stores to open at all just yet. Maybe around 18 May, for curbside pickup only. This risks going a bit off-topic, but I think it's important to address the idea that Alameda County is singling out Tesla. AFAICT they're being fairly strict across the board.

http://www.acphd.org/media/574525/press-release-2020.05.07.pdf

[...] regional Health Orders that took effect May 4 are still in effect. These orders – in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and the City of Berkeley – loosen restrictions on construction as well as outdoor activities and businesses. The Bay Area orders do not currently permit curbside pickup from non-essential, non-outdoor businesses, and that is not allowed to begin on Friday, May 8.​

 

[ggr]

How about email or mail responses? I have Twitter account but never post anything. Can I email? Post email address too please

You don't need to post on twitter. Just look at the tweet and click the link in it, which takes you to the county enquiry submission form. 30 seconds.

 

[Steve m]

I think Dr. Erica Pan the Alameda County health officer and her boss Colleen Chawla the Director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency will be replaced and won't be holding their jobs in two weeks.

Imagine if instead of continuing to be authoritarian they had called Musk up and said we can only test 500 people a day we need to be able to test 3,400 people a day.

I think Musk would have said we will make that happen and gotten the right resources and finances applied.

Similarly to the lack of contact tracers and PPE.

 

[wtlloyd]

Geez, this place.
Hey, let's go back to talking about what Elon's girlfriend thinks, and how do you pronounce that wacky baby name again?

 

[Reductionist]

Does anyone here with some kind of legal expertise have any ideas what the lawsuit Elon mentioned could potentially look like?
What arguments could they potentially build a case on, and what is their chance of success? I'm really not familiar with US law so any input would be appreciated.

 

[SMAlset]

That's simply not fair. The state, along with almost every other official in charge of anything health related, is trying to figure this whole situation out. Pardon them if they can't give you a definitive date as to when this pandemic will end or be controlled to the point of getting back to anything resembling "normal". It's going in stages ... maybe they need to see how the first stage works out before deciding to move further? That just seems responsible to me.

They are moving at a snail’s pace but when it takes like 2 to 3 weeks for infections to become evident without testing I can see why. However I will say after two months at home I didn’t look forward to any more time after May 4. I was very happy mentally to have our electrician out to do a main panel upgrade this past week.

The sad fact about this is that it’s not like going to the office where co-workers have a cold and you might catch it. For some it’s not just the risk of losing their job. Losing one or both parents in a week or two because they caught it at work is truly unimaginable to me. Has me wondering if more people have made wills/trusts lately.

As for work precautions, I don’t believe temperature checks are much help given I read that a large percentage of those coming into the hospital don’t have a fever. And masks aren’t a given either. I see this still as a russian roulette type of situation unfortunately.

 

[PeterJA]

The "Elon is childish" criticism inspires two thoughts:

1) Elon has actually shown extraordinary restraint in the face of a non-stop decade-long disinformation campaign against his companies and himself personally. In the 7 years I've followed him, I've seen him succumb to very-human losses of temper only a few times (e.g. "pedo guy", for which he later apologized), and because his life is so transparent and public, I believe what I've seen is a pretty representative sample of his temperament.

Also, there is no evidence that his "moving" tweet was a snap decision, and could've been planned as a contingency, as @StealthP3D suggested. Evidence for this is Elon's statement about "final straw."

2) Thank God Elon is childish in one sense. He has childlike curiosity and willingness to question the status quo, and the courage to explore new ideas. The world can use more of that.