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

[advocate8]

Honestly, I think you are being naive about the motivation of the schoolyard bullies. That attacks on Elon have been, from day one the bullies entered the school, very pointed, coordinated, and relentless. You believe the bullies have, at some level, good intentions. I believe most of their intensions are purely financial self interest. Talk is a waste of time, it would be just political posturing by all sides - and the bullies will not change their mind, as their pockets are not filled by Elon, but by companies and interests that are threatened by Elon. Elon tried something like you suggested, like agreeing to interviews from NY Times, having a dedicated pr department to combat the FUD - all produced nothing good. Because the interests are different - if he paid the articles, like everybody else does, then the coverage would be positive - but also ineffective/just another useless GM style fluff piece.

And in fact by going his way, ignoring the media, the media attacks have become less and less effective, and lately in fact some of the Media realizes that good stories about Elon are good for them too - it differentiates them from the crowd in a good way - hence the Time etc person of the year.

I suspect pretty soon something similar will also happen with the schoolyard bullies - sooner or later they will come to Elon, groveling for positive attention.

People don’t pay for articles in the New York Times. Nor do the reporters there or at any other major news organization have story topics, tones etc dictated by some shadowy cabal. Way off base. I know that from up close and personal.

 

[Todd Burch]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1471917423116783616

Contains the video of the Model 3 at highspeed in the Paris Taxi incident. Should be the Taxi company responsibility to speed limit these cars. There's no chance the Model 3 malfunction like this - all point to driver having a joy ride.

Absolutely. Unintended acceleration is a nearly impossible occurrence due to 2 opposed Hall-effect sensors in the accelerator assembly that must show opposing movement before the input is accepted.

 

[torifile]

That’s exactly my thought.

If low risk drivers gravitate towards the safety score based insurance, the drivers who remain are by definition the ones who are the riskiest. Let those guys go or charge them through the nose for insurance.

I think Tesla’s ultimate goal is to encourage people to use FSD and Autopilot for almost all driving. Then as Tesla improves the safety and performance of those technologies, their insurance rates can decline.

There is a weird dynamic here too. At some point is it going to make sense for Tesla insurance to pay for FSD?

Interesting thoughts. The marginal cost of FSD for Tesla is close to zero. It would make a whole lot of sense for them to use it with their insured. Services revenue is the golden egg of next gen tech. All the big boys are doing it - Apple, Amazon, Microsoft. All of them.

 

[Todd Burch]

No more human drivers, please.

Media, sigh.

Of course the video says "It is not clear whether the car was operating in Autopilot mode."

It should say "Because we are morons and made zero attempt to talk to ANYONE even remotely familiar with Autopilot, we're going to leave the question on the table, because it adds to the drama."

 

[advocate8]

Who said media? I said people like Bernie and President Biden. Make the discussion open for media to film and thats that. I dont see the financial self interest Bernie gets from saying things about not combatting climate change or Biden ignoring Tesla. It is very clear why Biden is ignoring Tesla. It is voters in the rust belt thinking about themselves. Biden putting Elon on a pedestal just gives ammo for GOP to say Biden is hurting jobs in the rust belt. Democrats wont lose California by pumping up Ford and GM. Biden wont get Texas by pumping up Tesla.

Your word choice is spot on. Biden is ignoring Tesla, not targeting it. He doesn’t seem interested in the company or Musk in any particularly way.

 

[Cosmacelf]

TLDR: Once you buy a Tesla you're hooked.

An hour ago I was walking home from my local bar. Its a 5 minute walk. I saw a grey Model 3 reversing into a cul de sac near where I live, and I was interested. Anyway, I followed it down the road to have a chat with the driver (a "Tesla stalker" as my wife calls me). Previously there had been a white Model 3 parked outside the house. The driver was a nice bloke in his 60s and was happy to chat. He had picked up his new car today! He said it was the best car he's ever had and the reason he got a replacement now, was because of the >300 mile range. There is a kind of camaraderie amongst Tesla drivers. I'm on my first but I can't envisage buying any other make. Young or old, car buyers know a good car when they drive one and once you're in, you're in .

I agree, to a point. If you’re in the market to buy a car that Tesla does not make, like a pickup truck or full sized SUV, then you’ll be looking elsewhere right now. It’s why I own a Tesla and am looking forward to a new Rivian SUV. Tesla can’t make all types of cars, at least for now.

 

[wooter]

Your word choice is spot on. Biden is ignoring Tesla, not targeting it. He doesn’t seem interested in the company or Musk in any particularly way.

Biden sees no political capital in Musk and Tesla, and that's understandably. Musk and Tesla don't represent (unionised) workers, and Tesla is with 1 (soon 2) factories in the US a small fish. A small fish that is very visible with his (paper) wealth, which doesn't float well with the democratic base. There's nothing about Tesla that says lower middle class.

 

[Lessmog]

Your word choice is spot on. Biden is ignoring Tesla, not targeting it. He doesn’t seem interested in the company or Musk in any particularly way.

You may be correct about that particular (off-limits) name but a couple of other pols' (also off-limits) have circulated this topic.

For my part, I have no doubt there is a concerted effort behind the continuing personal attacks on Elon (whose name is still on-topic).

 

[insaneoctane]

....I think Tesla’s ultimate goal is to encourage people to use FSD and Autopilot for almost all driving. Then as Tesla improves the safety and performance of those technologies, their insurance rates can decline....

If true, it's a real shame that Tesla makes such fun cars to drive...

 

[Featsbeyond50]

And yet you have to wait almost a year to get the most popular Tesla config.......I would say the people you know/work with are their own echo chamber.

Sure there are people out there that dislikes Tesla's or Elon but the data points to them being the minority by far. My own personal experience is the exact opposite of yours. The dislike of Tesla's has gone down dramatically.

I acknowledge that when I get that kind of feedback I think "whelp, the stock price can still go a lot higher". HOWEVER, I will still never take it as a good thing that the President tries to promote a false narrative and nominates a person with a clear anti Tesla bias to a regulatory agency. Or, that Bernie and Liz are trying to slam Elon on a semi daily basis.

 

[Big Time]

Aptus Capital Advisors's David Wagner says energy is undervalued

David Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, joins 'The Exchange' with his outlook on the energy sector. "Energy continues to mark all the three boxes that I look for in an investment," he tells Kelly Evans.

www.cnbc.com

Is this little oil puppet the guy suing Tesla/Elon?

 

[Ogre]

If true, it's a real shame that Tesla makes such fun cars to drive...

Keep in mind Tesla‘s algorithm down-rates based on behaviors which are associated with high chance of accidents. High speed is not one of those things.

 

[advocate8]

You may be correct about that particular (off-limits) name but a couple of other pols' (also off-limits) have circulated this topic.

For my part, I have no doubt there is a concerted effort behind the continuing personal attacks on Elon (whose name is still on-topic).

It’s real, not concerted though. Just the usual aversion to billionaires. I dont think they are aiming at the company, though, just Musk. The company is the best out there at building the kind of products they really want. Germany, though, it seems to be the company for no discernible reason. Jobs, green products, yet the factory is being held up.

 

[Lessmog]

Aptus Capital Advisors's David Wagner says energy is undervalued

David Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, joins 'The Exchange' with his outlook on the energy sector. "Energy continues to mark all the three boxes that I look for in an investment," he tells Kelly Evans.

www.cnbc.com

Is this little oil puppet the guy suing Tesla/Elon?

Never heard of him, but with a name like Wagner he must play some minor role in Ragnarök?

 

[Cosmacelf]

I do think Elon should respond to Bernie with a public "Hey Bernie, lets sit down and talk about how Tesla is combatting climate change and see what we can do together." Need to separate the combatting climate change from the using Elon as the boogie man for taxing billionaires.

I do think Elon should publicly invited President Biden for the grand opening of the worlds largest Electric Vehicle factory in Austin Texas. Has the added benefit of having to bring Texas Governor together with President Biden. Abbott will hate that and President Biden will have to do a press event with Tesla.

With all due respect, I think you’re being a bit naive. Politicians want to demagogue people. It’s how they keep their base together. Identify an enemy and vilify them. Trump did this famously with illegal immigrants. Biden and other progressives have long attacked wealthy people. Bernie and Biden have no intention ever talking to Elon, all they want to do is attack him, whether it makes sense or not.

 

[mars_or_bust]

People don’t pay for articles in the New York Times. Nor do the reporters there or at any other major news organization have story topics, tones etc dictated by some shadowy cabal. Way off base. I know that from up close and personal.

Now that the market is closed:

You picked a reeeeeaaaaaaly poor example of independent media.

New York Times? Really?

You might want to take a look at this link Home Page - The Gray Lady Winked - How the New York Times Radically Alters History

For the record, I am a subscriber to NYTimes, and to many other media outlets, both left and right leaning. NYTimes has some quality reporters (Krugman is not one of them), but a lot of it is extremely biased, wrong, politically and economically influenced.

 

[Cherry Wine]

Anyone have access to the closing cross volume?

 

[Lessmog]

It’s real, not concerted though. Just the usual aversion to billionaires. I dont think they are aiming at the company, though, just Musk. The company is the best out there at building the kind of products they really want. Germany, though, it seems to be the company for no discernible reason. Jobs, green products, yet the factory is being held up.

Of course we are all entitled to hold our opinions. It seems they differ on this point. (Refer to NYT, LAT, CNBS most of the time, etc) since at least 2013 and almost never letting up. No, it's not just anti-Musk. The man is a Disruptor of gargantuan size. IMO. YMMV.

 

[insaneoctane]

I'm actually pretty irritated by the smear/villianizing tactics used against Elon. Whether it's from Wallstreet, legacy auto, oil & gas, politicians....it doesn't matter. Elon is a well-known personality and has proven (to me) to be a very considerate billionaire. Politicians seem to be tone deaf as they attack him knowing he has 65M+ followers and will speak the truth.

 

[stealthyc]

Anyone have access to the closing cross volume?

Seems like roughly 5M