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

[Sudre]

Consumer Reports - 4 hours ago:

They do love the gas car that can drive for 40 miles on battery.

I always have to wonder, if taking a car up to get a production error fixed once is the end of the world then I guess taking a gas car up to get an oil change every 3 months must be a total deal breaker. I never got a loaner when I had to take my car in for an oil change... or an Uber.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Don't forget MIC Model Y.

Model 3s are great and the appreciation I have for mine continues to grow. However, Model Y is the ultimate game-changer Tesla was really planning for. To use a baseball analogy: Model 3 was the "setup" vehicle for the Model Y.

In ~5 years, the much-discussed Model 2 should take the mantel from Model Y and lead the way to 20M/year late in the decade.

Anything's possible in China, I just don't know the market and what the party might do over the next 10 years. Not that I'm worried.

Model Y will be unstoppable in the US/EUR for the next 5 years, that's all I know for sure.

 

[AZRI11]

It looks like Rich is trying to set the record straight and/or even help the people that were fired.

https://mobile.twitter.com/RebuildsRich/status/1342564508385091597

I gotta admit, I want Rich to be correct in this. I do trust him.

I keep saying last time on this subject. Fired employees happened before that Model X delivery. Someone at corporate Tesla noticed/watched his YouTube and started to put the pieces together, Rich had help from someone who works for Tesla. The employees were caught lying, no stealing was involved. Not necessarily rich's fault, tesla employees fault.

Content for a YouTube channel is obviously important. Tesla 2 years ago had major issues delivering cars, even used ones. Mobile Tech/Detailer guy was still extremely upset 5 months after almost getting fired. He knew rich was going to claim the car wasn't properly detailed (photos saved his job) I'm just an innocent bystander in this and should just keep my big mouth shut.

That's it. One more thing, the upset employee strongly recommended buying every dip. It was too late I always bought when tsla went up (fomo) I still did alright my cost basis is 60 dollars a share ( post split).

 

[Drumheller]

OT:

For those that have the newer vehicles with the external speaker, the new software update adds a feature to change driving sounds and horn sounds. Since I don't like the low speed driving sound, I may try a custom sound that is silence. As for the horn, I may try to replace it with Ludacris, "move b, get out da way "

 

[AZRI11]

I don't know but smartphones got off to a slow start. In early 1999 I bought the first real smartphone, a Qualcomm QCP 6035:

6 gadgets ahead of their time | Fox News (#2 in the list)

The following year I upgraded to a color smartphone, a Kyocera 7135.

The 7135 could play color videos and was smaller and more powerful than the good ol' 6035 but I think the brick-like 6135 was the better phone since it could go 2-3 days (a full week under light usage) on one charge. Both very very good phones with the highest wireless data rates available. E-mails, web browsing, games, and all kinds of apps for things like language translators, Skyglobe Planetarium, dictionaries, ballistics calculators, investment apps, etc.

Back then there was serious debate whether the "average joe" really wanted or needed web browsing and computer functionality on their personal cell phone. Many people thought this was not the future even though these early smartphones worked well. A phone should only be a phone they said!

Look what happened.

Merry Christmas to all Tesla shareholders and Employees!

42 (yes that number) years ago today #4 on that list "Electronic Quarterback, made by Coleco" was given to me for Christmas. 42nd anniversary of looking down at small screen in the palm of my hand, and having a bad neck as a result. And my poor thumb from the Atari joystick.

 

[Causalien]

I keep saying last time on this subject. Fired employees happened before that Model X delivery. Someone at corporate Tesla noticed/watched his YouTube and started to put the pieces together, Rich had help from someone who works for Tesla. The employees were caught lying, no stealing was involved. Not necessarily rich's fault, tesla employees fault.

Content for a YouTube channel is obviously important. Tesla 2 years ago had major issues delivering cars, even used ones. Mobile Tech/Detailer guy was still extremely upset 5 months after almost getting fired. He knew rich was going to claim the car wasn't properly detailed (photos saved his job) I'm just an innocent bystander in this and should just keep my big mouth shut.

That's it. One more thing, the upset employee strongly recommended buying every dip. It was too late I always bought when tsla went up (fomo) I still did alright my cost basis is 60 dollars a share ( post split).

It's probably best, if ppl don't know u know someone @ tesla.

 

[StealthP3D]

The Y is going to eat the World, I'm not too worried about what CR has to say. They're good at testing BBQ's and TVs, that's about it.

I'm glad Consumer Reports finally became competent at reviewing BBQ's and TV's! I quit following them a long time ago but last time I checked, about 10-15 years ago, they weren't good at either! Must have got some new blood!

 

[AZRI11]

It's probably best, if ppl don't know u know someone @ tesla.

Yes. I agree

 

[TheTalkingMule]

I'm glad Consumer Reports finally became competent at reviewing BBQ's and TV's! I quit following them a long time ago but last time I checked, about 10-15 years ago, they weren't good at either! Must have got some new blood!

Now that you mention it, I probably haven't looked at them in 15 years either. Bought a recommended Vermont Castings grill for $317 in maybe 2004(?).....changed out the guts twice and it's still sitting uncovered on my deck right now. Original coated cast iron grates and no hot spots. Love it.

They've probably been slowly eroded like all other print by lack of subscriptions and increasingly douchy executives willing to sell out for a few bucks.

 

[CyberDutchie]

Giddy up Jingle Horse

The water stream you see next to the site is the Elkhorn Slough, part of the incredibly beautiful Moss Landing State Wildlife Preserve. You can kayak upstream and get up close with sea otters, sea lions, migratory bird species. The unsightly two chimneys from the original natural gas and oil power plant are a thorn in everyone’s eyes though, I hope they will be able to dismantle them soon.

Btw, Tesla’s MegaPack installation will store renewable energy from solar and wind. Reason it’s located here: because of the existing power transmission lines which were built long time ago when the power plant produced massive amounts of electricity. Fantastic project!

 

[Sancho]

When I first got my Model S in 2013, I commented on a phenomenon that many others have reported through the years: that 10 year old kids would turn their heads and give me a thumbs up as I drove past. Tesla touched a nerve for pre teens everywhere.

In what seems like a blink of an eye, those first pre teens now have their drivers licenses. And while most don’t yet have the money to buy a car, they know what they want to buy when they can.

The Tesla Generation is coming of age.

 

[new_sneakers]

https://twitter.com/freshjiva/status/1342779399767265280?s=21

Mayur Thaker doesn’t believe active managed funds benchmarked to the S&P will go equal weight TSLA in the near term, partly because of the newness of Tesla’s P/E ratio.

It seems to me that Tesla are more inclined to make their financials looks presentable than at the start of this year, when Elon said that raising capital to pay down debt is pretty dumb.

If Tesla pay down debt as Elon said they would with their latest capital raise, the removal of interest on debt is the easiest GAAP profit improvement imaginable. This is not the most efficient use of capital on its own, but makes Tesla more attractive to certain investors, and hopefully gets them an upgraded debt rating with Moody’s and S&P as well to access better interest rates on future debt.

 

[j6Lpi429@3j]

maybe elon thought it was dumb before the crazy stock price showed that raising capital was super, super easy for him.
Personally I'm all for tesla paying off as much debt as possible. Debt never seems like a problem in good times, but can be catastrophic in bad times. We dont know what will happen in the next 1, 2 or 3 years. NOBODY saw covid coming, the more resilient tesla is to economic shocks, the better.

 

[dl003]

I don't know but smartphones got off to a slow start. In early 1999 I bought the first real smartphone, a Qualcomm QCP 6035:

6 gadgets ahead of their time | Fox News (#2 in the list)

The following year I upgraded to a color smartphone, a Kyocera 7135.

The 7135 could play color videos and was smaller and more powerful than the good ol' 6035 but I think the brick-like 6135 was the better phone since it could go 2-3 days (a full week under light usage) on one charge. Both very very good phones with the highest wireless data rates available. E-mails, web browsing, games, and all kinds of apps for things like language translators, Skyglobe Planetarium, dictionaries, ballistics calculators, investment apps, etc.

Back then there was serious debate whether the "average joe" really wanted or needed web browsing and computer functionality on their personal cell phone. Many people thought this was not the future even though these early smartphones worked well. A phone should only be a phone they said!

Look what happened.

Merry Christmas to all Tesla shareholders and Employees!

I am quite a bit less experienced than you are but I also played with a Palm for a while in 2004. My impression was not that of a smart phone, but a miniature PC. It was never going to be appealing to the mass as it was far from easy to use. I think thats what Jobs got right, a good mix of friendly UI and capability. Thats also what set Tesla apart from the early EVs, which were not fun or easy to operate.

 

[gabeincal]

From Twitter. Note the term 'Tesla game profile'.

For those who can't read the highlighted:

"To play online, create a Tesla game profile"

 

[Zaxxon]

Spoiler: OT: Holiday Update thoughts

OT:

For those that have the newer vehicles with the external speaker, the new software update adds a feature to change driving sounds and horn sounds. Since I don't like the low speed driving sound, I may try a custom sound that is silence. As for the horn, I may try to replace it with Ludacris, "move b, get out da way "

Unfortunately, this update has some questionable choices. For example, only the Summon sound sticks between drives. This makes the horn and creep noises useless other than as parlor tricks. Maybe there's a regulatory requirement for that; not sure. But the bottom line is no one will be permanently customizing their sounds at this stage.

More problematic to me is the redesigned driver information area. While it's cool for seeing more of what the car sees (and for its new animations while in park), it means that my Model 3's map size is now permanently and significantly reduced, and directions are now farther out of my driving field of vision. I would much prefer that this either be customizable or that it automatically embiggen itself when Autopilot/FSD is engaged. As it stands, it's a pretty objective drop in functionality for today's Tesla drivers.

And a minor stylistic note: the move to further reduce color in the driver info area for items that aren't immediately relevant (example: battery icon is now gray) is one I welcome. But the audio player background color doesn't match the driver info background color, even though they overlap and would otherwise do so seamlessly.

I hope these are all artifacts of what was clearly a rush to get the thing out on Christmas (half the holiday update Elon initially touted was moved to another upcoming release, and this one started rolling widely once Christmas was in its waning hours) rather than an indication that this is Tesla's medium-term vision for the interface.

From Twitter. Note the term 'Tesla game profile'.

For those who can't read the highlighted:

"To play online, create a Tesla game profile"

I noticed that, too. Further evidence that Tesla has a much more functional infrastructure for apps in its plans.

 

[UncaNed]

Thanks for sharing! While using the LEAP strategy, did you have any bad experiences? Any risk and mitigations?

Interestingly my leverage is about 1.5x too. But to achieve the same leverage, we can do 2 methods:
1. 100% not too deep ITM leap
2. 50% shares + 50% ATM leaps

Any reason you chose the all Leap way?

How are you measuring your leverage?

 

[Yoked24]

Rich took delivery of a used Model X a couple of years ago and pointed out the defects on his YouTube channel. I know the person who detailed that car (tesla mobile service tech) he was picked to do it because they trusted him. After the video was posted by Rich, Tesla almost fired this employee, only thing is he took detailed pictures of the Model X before Rich took delivery. Showing proof that Rich is a liar and is only interested in the number of views on his channel.

so what are the chances the service person or detailed just showed pictures of another Model X to save their asses from being fired?
I feel like it’s pretty high up there.

Not necessarily defending rich, but putting out the obvious that they could’ve used photos of another car to save themselves...

 

[gabeincal]

so what are the chances the service person or detailed just showed pictures of another Model X to save their asses from being fired?
I feel like it’s pretty high up there.

Not necessarily defending rich, but putting out the obvious that they could’ve used photos of another car to save themselves...

I would like to ask everyone talking about Rich and his affairs to continue this discussion in a thread unrelated to Tesla investing. I believe this is what we agreed when we said we self-police?

 

[wtlloyd]

so what are the chances the service person or detailed just showed pictures of another Model X to save their asses from being fired?
I feel like it’s pretty high up there.

Not necessarily defending rich, but putting out the obvious that they could’ve used photos of another car to save themselves...

I hope this discussion doesn't continue. There can be nothing but speculation as there are no certain facts in the mix. It's completely irrelevant to the thread topic. I've enjoyed Rich Rebuilds in the past although I don't watch it any longer. Let this issue get worked out on his site.