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

[Artful Dodger]

So, for those of you that understand Elon-Speak, does "Texas/Nevada" mean:

a) Texas or Nevada
b) Texas and Nevada
c) Texas and/or Nevada
d) Anywhere but California

?

e) Texas

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

I posted this a year ago and got 14 "disagrees:"

People don't hate Teslas, they hate Tesla owners. The car has become associated with liberal politics. Much the same way Harley was associated with the Hell's Angels. This is an INVESTMENT board and people can't stop posting about global warming armageddon, immigration and how much they hate Trump. Is it your goal to sell Teslas and make money or advance political agendas? Alienating half the population is not the way to grow the brand. Tesla is trying to cast a wide net and many posters on this board are hindering instead of helping their efforts. So when somebody keys a Tesla understand that it wasn't the car they wanted to hurt, it was the owner.

Now the board is condemning government overreach and cheering a move to Texas.

Only explanation I have for the change is that the posters are a lot richer now.

More important: will you finally consider a Tesla now?

 

[woodisgood]

May not be a popular post given the mood of the forum...slight weekend off topic but salient to the long term health of Tesla I think.

It is unfortunately necessary to state one's bonefides on this board these days so... Been a share holder since basically IPO...Continued to buy...never sold a share... been a fan of the company since Eberhardt (poorly) ran it... Defended Elon endlessly over the years... sold enough Teslas to get some nice referral gifts... still drive my Signature model S (waiting on plaid) and dear wife drives an X... it is all about the mission... blah blah blah.

So... sad to see Elon moving the headquarters out of California (nowhere near to where I live). California is still the reservoir of the best engineering talent (especially software) in the US. Elon often says that this is the most important thing - exceptional engineering talent. People live in California for many reasons and clearly for many the up sides (coastal, cosmopolitan, temperate etc) outweigh the negatives (high pop density, higher taxes, impossible housing costs). I do think the factory will not be moving for a long time because Tesla needs to add manufacturing for ever not shift manufacturing.

Full disclosure, I am also biased against Texas which has been nothing but hostile to Tesla end does not 'deserve' Tesla. Texas wins because of its population (which often wins these things). I also look at Texas as being the Canadian equivalent of Alberta. Alberta and Texas are petrol states that love to extol their fiscal rectitude and 'live and let live' ideals while the resource (and oil is almost literally the 'mother' of all resources) royalties roll in. I believe Texas would both be governed very differently (i.e. like everyone else) if oil was not the base of the economy. I would love to hear (in a civil manner) from Texans correcting my misconceptions. In my former telecom days I visited Richardson Tx regularly and there was certainly excellent tech there but nothing compared to California. Even SpaceX is in Texas because that is as far south as you can go in the continental US - to think otherwise is to misunderstand orbital dynamics.

Perhaps a terrible parallel, but not so sure Boeing has been served well my moving its head office to Chicago. Anyway Tesla is leading the EV world BECAUSE of California (talent and regulatory environment) not despite it. Just look at their sales and tech lead. Californians can look at this 2 ways: screw you Tesla or screw you California government - both will happen. The former might be less inclined to buy a Tesla.

Anyway I am all about the mission (the financial gains have been a sweet bonus) and I feel this move does not help Tesla in the long run. Perhaps they will leave the core engineering team in California - that would be a smart decision.

Phew...having said all that I do think the factory could and should open right away - they clearly proved that in Shanghai. However calling the Dr Pan unelected (why should she be and why is that relevant?) and incompetent is petty. She may be incompetent but public shaming is rarely productive.

I read a lot of "Go Elon - you show them" rah rah on this board but Tesla needs to be where the talent is, and as of today that is still California. This may be the first decision that Elon has made that I do not feel is in the long term interest of the company. Dearly hope I am wrong - he needs to be right. Covid will be a blip in the great Tesla story moving the headquarters in a fit of pique might not.

I agree with a great deal of what you wrote, but would challenge that the reason a lot of the top talent is here is because the employers are here. Give the top talent a reason to leave (especially the younger ones) and many of them will.

It’s also easy to see Tesla maintaining a large software presence in SV.

 

[EV forever]

Well what is the police situation there? Obviously the county wouldn’t send state. Where I grew up it was the county that had the police. Where I live now it’s the town. What’s the situation in Teslaland?

Fremont city has its own police department. I don't believe the county has a police department and would need to reply on the city police to enforce anything. If Fremont city refuses to enforce, I doubt anything in the factory could be stopped.

 

[Zaxxon]

I predict that we're nearing the end of...

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Given the swift responses - within a few hours - by Alameda county, the mayor of Fremont and the mayor of Palo Alto, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a solution by Monday morning.

 

[Rarity]

HQ is definitely gone though.

Wasn't it about time anyway? Suspect they were running out of space at the current HQ building anyway.

 

[EV forever]

I went from nervous about this in the morning to now convinced the county and state will be offering incentives for them to stay. lol

Elon = The Blade

LOL, for the first time ever I wasn't nervous at all about Elon's tweets this morning. The instant I saw the tweet, I knew Elon was going to win this hands down. The county of Alameda has completely misread the level of discontent in local people over the continued shutdown. Everyone was supportive of the SIP when it started, since there were so many unknowns. But as things have progressed and it is becoming increasingly clear that CA is doing well, the sentiment is slowly shifting to wanting to see opening up with control. But most people are still afraid of coming out and saying this openly. All they needed was a flash-point or a leader to coalesce around. Elon provided that perfectly. His tweets are not crazy, they come across as well thought out and clear.

My expectation is that we get a decision this weekend, and next week there will be a nice breakout of the stock price. My prediction is $950 by Tuesday (maybe wishful thinking too )

 

[Reductionist]

The lawsuit has been filed (found on twitter). Does anyone know how to access the entire document?

 

[Prunesquallor]

The lawsuit has been filed (found on twitter). Does anyone know how to access the entire document?

Oh, man. Does anyone believe Musk is bluffing about anything?

 

[printf42]

Wasn't it about time anyway? Suspect they were running out of space at the current HQ building anyway.

What I heard is the HQ building is almost entirely FSD team now, hardly any HQ function in that building anymore.

 

[Rarity]

What I heard is the HQ building is almost entirely FSD team now, hardly any HQ function in that building anymore.

Interesting. Where are the HQ functions?

 

[Rarity]

The documents have been filed here, but you need to be authorized to view them. Does anyone here have access?

Somebody on TMC needs PACER access and to be willing to spend the per-page fee to download and distribute.

 

[Reductionist]

The whole lawsuit filed today against Alameda county is here. Have no idea how thirdrowtesla got access, but I'm not complaining

 

[TheGrimSweeper]

They obviously had that lawsuit prepared beforehand in case they needed it. No way that was just done today

 

[Mo City]

Gov Abbott responds

Greg Abbott on Twitter

 

[Artful Dodger]

Anybody able to estimate what the Q2 restructuring charge will be for moving Tesla HQ to Texas?

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

Gov Abbott responds

Greg Abbott on Twitter

Lol this is getting more and more embarrassing for California and Almeada by the hour

 

[MP3Mike]

The lawsuit has been filed (found on twitter). Does anyone know how to access the entire document?

It is available here: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.359281/gov.uscourts.cand.359281.1.0.pdf

Somebody on TMC needs PACER access and to be willing to spend the per-page fee to download and distribute.

If you keep your usage under $15/quarter they don't charge you anything.

 

[Krugerrand]

Oh, man. Does anyone believe Musk is bluffing about anything?

He does not bluff.