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

[KarenRei]

Wow, you posted a lot of questions!

I come prepared

 

[Joshker]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

You're Killin it, great questions!

 

[Garlands]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

hahah..love those questions

 

[VValleyEV]

IMHO sensible article, the headline is just click-bait, the author is a Tesla owner and economist.
The potholes in our roads are about to get worse because of electric cars

He criticizes some of the proposed solutions for funding highway maintenance in the face of the EV solution, and comes up with a good alternative: tax a percentage of revenue from charging stations. Making it a percentage helps protect from inflation which the gas taxes expressed in cents do not.

So I like the educational tone and recommendations from this article, all of which helps with acceptance of EV adoption and success of TSLA, and his recommendation sure sounds better than flat taxes or mileage monitoring.

Only real STRANGE thing is his comments on home charging vs commercial stations: “... because charging at home is a hassle — requiring eight to 20 hours — I believe most drivers will increasingly choose the convenience and speed of the charging stations, which can fill up an EV in as little as 30 minutes.“

I get it that home charging is a “hassle” if you live in a condo or apartment that doesn’t/won’t support it. But how can an EV owner not be delighted at never having to stop to re-fuel except on road trips, because of the ability to just plug it in at home (again, author says he owns an M3)? And most EV owners than can charge would agree that the expense of adding a L2 charger to your garage that can charge overnight (in way way less than 20 hours), is a very small price to pay for one of the biggest advantages of having an EV period. What am I missing?

Thanks for many responses. I am persuaded that mileage monitoring for tax purposes is the best option, applied equally for EV and ICE, but that that the rate should be higher for larger/heavier vehicles, ie trucks. Still scratching my head over the author’s comments on home charging being a “hassle”.

 

[riverFox]

I come prepared

You've carpet bombed CR lol

 

[MXWing]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

You need to ask:

What’s the fastest in history that CR has ever done an about face on a recommendation?

And is today a good day to beat aforementioned historical record??!!

 

[Cherry Wine]

Wtf is up with this price action? I am flabbergasted. The one time I convince myself to not catch a falling knife it turns out to not be a knife at all, but a fluffy pillow.

It's possible some investors have interpreted the SEC's filing as a removal of uncertainty -- perhaps fearing more harsh repercussions than contempt of court (such as seeking to void the settlement agreement and seek a director ban). It is the only explanation that makes any sense to me.

 

[mongo]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

You simultaneously de-recommended six separate vehicles. One would hardly know it. You wrote an entire separate article for the Model 3, and dedicated a separate tweet to it specifically. Even in your multi-car article, you focus the headline and lead text on only two cars, one of those being the Model 3. How is this not clickbait? Do you think that this sort of excess negative focus on a specific, "click-grabbing" model during a downgrade of six vehicles is what a fair, impartial organization would do?

Additionally:
Why is it that there were 6 cars de-listed, but only one in called out in the AMA links?

 

[Fact Checking]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

Oh wow, your options expiry and communications questions are worth gold:

"Your decision to de-recommend the Model 3 - released just before TSLA options expiry - caused the stock to plunge ten points and caused significant losses for investors. Not everyone was so unlucky, however. One person - seemingly inexplicably at the time - bought 8,600 $295 PUT contracts at $1.90, only 2 days prior to expiration. The "inexplicable" trade suddenly became explicable, because shortly thereafter your report came out. If they sold near the end of the day, they earned over $2 million dollars on that trade."

"We know that you informed numerous news sources that you had upcoming news. It appears, on the face of it, that your news "leaked" from one of them, and allowed a short seller to profit off of everyone else's misery. Do you feel any guilt over this? Do you accept that your ratings changes are material nonpublic information? Do you have any plans to tighten your communications policies?"​

Too bad they very likely won't answer that one. If you agree with Karen's questions and if you are on Reddit then it needs as many upvotes as possible.

Please don't down-vote the CR answers, be polite.

 

[anthonyj]

Wtf is up with this price action? I am flabbergasted. The one time I convince myself to not catch a falling knife it turns out to not be a knife at all, but a fluffy pillow.

It's possible some investors have interpreted the SEC's filing as a removal of uncertainty -- perhaps fearing more harsh repercussions than contempt of court (such as seeking to void the settlement agreement and seek a director ban). It is the only explanation that makes any sense to me.

The only thing I can think of... is institutions were waiting for another SEC battle to mark a bottom and reverse the downtrend. I don’t know. I’m laughing so hard

 

[nursebee]

I added premarket

 

[Unpilot]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

Done...upvoting that is.

 

[mltv]

So TSLA investors jumping to a position in NIO brings focus to the EV market potential of China and that creates a boost for TSLA?

I agree on the second half of your statement. yes.

 

[Remus]

What is causing this quick recovery?

Could it be that the release of the filing response date took the pressure off?

Could this mean that there is some thinking that EM will not be in this situation going forward through some action of the TSLA board?

Could this mean that the likelihood of a move away from the public markets is now more serious?

Could it mean that another short is going to announce a change of view? Could it be a bond ratings upgrade? Could it be an early payment of the debt?

My head is spinning!!!

I think maybe some people with lots of money come to an realization that even after an unfavorable ruling Tesla is worth more than 300 per share, or they just happened to have fund ready.

 

[Drax7]

Cramer: Elon Musk should be removed from Tesla as CEO for attacking the SEC

Cramer recommending the stock bear stearns at $80 three month before it blew up entirely.
Cramer is a hazard to securities investing.
Why does the SEC allow him to give stock advise?

 

[azaz]

Wanted to correct myself on something I said yesterday; Bloomberg piece yesterday cited two sources saying Butswinkas departure had nothing to do with the tweet.

 

[Pezpunk]

Additionally:
Why is it that there were 6 cars de-listed, but only one in called out in the AMA links?

eh, i think the answer is pretty obvious. only one of them was going to generate any traction. [insert joke about how AWD Teslas have better traction than any other car on the market...]

 

[Anton W]

Here's a more detailed account of what Jim Cramer said:

• Cramer suggested removing Tim Cook as Apple CEO, because being the most profitable business on the planet just doesn't cut it. His suggested replacement for Apple CEO is Cramer's old buddy Jeffrey Skilling, who earlier this week returned from a several years long, well deserved extended vacation. (Cramer was unable to deny or confirm whether his hedge fund is short AAPL or not.)
• Cramer suggested disbanding NASA as well, because they only landed humans on a single moon and only landed four rovers on Mars. Clearly a major technological and scientific failure.
• Cramer suggested firing James Cameron as the director of the next Avatar movie as well, because the first Avatar movie was a big commercial disappointment.
• Finally, Cramer explained the real reason he wants Elon Musk removed as the CEO of Tesla: Musk turned Tesla into the most profitable major carmaker (on a profit margin basis) in a single quarter, which is just not fair to all the shorts and their families. Tesla needs a new CEO for the bankwuptcy dream to become reality.

Musk out as CEO is ridiculous. Who would want him out with such great stock movement the last few years.

 

[nvsblman]

Consumer Reports Ask-Me-Anything is open here:

I am the Director of Auto Test from Consumer Reports to talk about top picks and reliability AMA : IAmA

Be sure to vote up any and all questions that you like. And if you see anything that hasn't been asked, by all means ask!

Take all my upvotes! Hope he responds to all of them... Particularly the ranking one, that is the most baffling to me.

 

[VValleyEV]

I am imagining a headline:

SEC forces profitable and growing company into bankruptcy for statement that has no effect on market.

In the body of the article, the point will be made that we are all made safer from investor fraud by such vigilance and enforcement rigor, that a policy of zero tolerance is preferable to any consideration of intent or timing or factuality in the offending statement, and also preferable to consideration of possible damage from enforcement. Also the point will be made that the slack in this market segment will easily be taken up by the other automobile manufacturers, in fact that without this company that according to the SEC was forced into bankruptcy by mismanagement, many existing companies will be more likely to survive, so there is not economic loss on balance. Or some such horrendously awful total bullshit.

Yeah sure I exaggerate, if they force Elon completely out Tesla will survive, but I expect it would no longer pose as much of a threat to Detroit.

Note to self: don’t post to forums late at night after 2 glasses of wine.