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

[unk45]

LK Group Hong Kong company that also has Chinese branch, acquired IDRA in 2008

They also make Giga Presses in their Ningbo factory, including the Dreampress 9000 ton

LK Machinery | The World Premiere of Dreampress 9000-ton Giga Press die-casting machine

LK Group has held a product launch of the world’s first 9000T in Ningbo, China.

www.foundry-planet.com

Their primary operations are in Ningbo, conveniently located for the port and industrial base.
Hong Kong houses their international sales arm and they are listed on the Hong Kong exchange.

They have most of their factories in China, one in Taiwan and the IDRA plant in Italy.

LK Group

L.K. Group is one of the global leaders in producing die-casting machines, plastic injection molding machines and CNC machining centers.

www.lk.world

Most of the publicity has been about IDRA but LK has been delivering most of the Largest Presses including those in Tesla Shanghai.

 

[unk45]

The Chinese people who want Xiaomi over Apple are ones who are brainwashed with nationalism by the CCP. When they buy Xiaomi they are not buying Xiaomi phones, they are buying badges of patriotism. I know, because my father-in-law is one of those people lol...

Xiaomi phones are often bought in preference to Apple in some markets, including Brazil. Most of my family have either those or Motorola (a Lenovo brand). Apple has some definite fans but only began to have much success when they began with dual Sim in 2008. The Apple ecosystem is a harder sell when so many important sites will not support Safari, and anyway most buyers know the Apples are also Chinese made. Chinese brands are well regarded for quality and value.

Of course that is not the case in North America.

 

[wipster]

They also make Giga Presses in their Ningbo factory, including the Dreampress 9000 ton

LK Machinery | The World Premiere of Dreampress 9000-ton Giga Press die-casting machine

LK Group has held a product launch of the world’s first 9000T in Ningbo, China.

www.foundry-planet.com

Their primary operations are in Ningbo, conveniently located for the port and industrial base.
Hong Kong houses their international sales arm and they are listed on the Hong Kong exchange.

They have most of their factories in China, one in Taiwan and the IDRA plant in Italy.

LK Group

L.K. Group is one of the global leaders in producing die-casting machines, plastic injection molding machines and CNC machining centers.

www.lk.world

Most of the publicity has been about IDRA but LK has been delivering most of the Largest Presses including those in Tesla Shanghai.

So would Giga Shanghai take delivery from that location?

 

[nvx1977]

OT

The launch cadence these days is insane.

TBH, SpaceX was what kept me HODLing TSLA stock during Model 3 production hell. With TSLAQ narratives bombarding my news feed constantly, I couldn't help but think maybe they are onto something. But Musk's space achievements reminded me that he can confound a lot of "experts" in the field because he takes the unconventional way to success. Happy Tesla survived that period. Now we can see what other crazy things the company can accomplish.

The money screenshot from the SpaceX webcast in case you didn't watch it:

 

[unk45]

So would Giga Shanghai take delivery from that location?

Yes

 

[heltok]

Again, I'll say that this is a very western point of view of Xi, and one that paints him in the most negative light possible. And I don't really care to get deep into Chinese politics, as I can barely handle the US as it is. I just want people to understand that there is a lot of Xi hatred from the West that isn't the case within China. And we should all strive to source our info outside the comfort of our bubbles. The post summarizes Xi's popularity in a non-biased way:

Is Xi Jinping losing popularity in China?

Shun Bot's answer: Xi’s popularity is definitely at the precipice of a great shift. I suspect that in the coming few years, he’s going to make a lot of enemies and a lot of friends. — A brief history of Xi’s popularity from 2012 to 2021 For the most part, Xi’s policies from 2012 to 2019 have b...

qr.ae

There are things happening in China that are undeniable. For example, China is producing compelling EVs. We are rapidly moving away from the days where China's primary MO was to copy others and make knock-off products (although some degree of that persists). Despite the Great Firewall, Internet tech evolved within those walls, with some innovations exceeding the rest of the Internet. Musk also knows this, and is considering revamping Twitter to be more like Chinese WeChat. The infrastructure and architecture in China (along with many Asian countries) are vastly superior than the US. All of this happened in the last decade. Among Chinese people, Xi gets the credit for modernizing the country and making it a world power.

Something else that's undeniable: In the last decade, China had the foresight to monopolize battery raw material producers around the world at a time when half of the US is still convinced climate change is a hoax. Now the world depends on China for batteries, and the US is just now starting to use policy (IRA) to establish our own battery supply chains.

I don't really care if Xi actually deserves credit for these developments in the last decade. And yes, if he takes credit for it, then he needs to take credit for the real estate bubble as well. What matters is that China has become a force to be reckoned with. Musk acknowledges this Every. Single. Time. he's asked about who realistically can challenge Tesla. It's the Chinese. Thinking Xi's actions are going to collapse China is IMO just naive.

To expand on this. I recommend this book to my friends:

Ai Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, Lee, Kai-Fu, eBook - Amazon.com

Ai Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order - Kindle edition by Lee, Kai-Fu. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Ai Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New...

www.amazon.com

I will summarize it quickly. Basically China starts by copying the west, but they don't do it like we think. Instead 100 companies do a more or less photocopy of facebook/google/amazon/tesla etc. Some are not shy about it, they are copying everything, color, fonts, images etc. Then these companies start to compete with each other by adding new features. The company that wins is the most aggressive one, that has a culture of very rapidly improving and expanding the product. Sometimes the most ruthless company wins, the company that is not shy about using non-competitive tools such as bribes, sabotage etc. The company that eventually comes to dominate their local market will be much more than the western company they cloned and improving very rapidly. Wechat is not Facebook, Baidu is not Google, Alibaba is not Amazon etc.

Also China is investing in lot in winning AI. They think AI might be a weapon that can win wars, and they don't want to lose the war against America, they have been humiliated enough times and will not be humiliated again. They have massive amounts of data and the government has access to it. And in AI data is king.

In self driving cars, they have so many phds, so many engineers etc who are working on this. So many papers by Chinese and so many competitions are won by Chinese teams. They still have some braindrain to Silicon Valley and SV is very good at software, much better than Europe. Imo if it wasn't for Tesla/Waymo the west would be lost in the race. But Tesla are really damned good. Will the Chinese be able to catch up to Tesla? I am not sure, Tesla are still running very fast. They give their secrets away, but by the time the Chinese have copied most of it, they have replaced their stack again. And problems are brewing in China with an ageing demographics, real estate bubble and lending crisis, covid isolation, immunity deficits and general discontent. So we will see how the next decades play out...

 

[SO16]

The launch cadence these days is insane.

TBH, SpaceX was what kept me HODLing TSLA stock during Model 3 production hell. With TSLAQ narratives bombarding my news feed constantly, I couldn't help but think maybe they are onto something. But Musk's space achievements reminded me that he can confound a lot of "experts" in the field because he takes the unconventional way to success. Happy Tesla survived that period. Now we can see what other crazy things the company can accomplish.

The money screenshot from the SpaceX webcast in case you didn't watch it:

View attachment 861616

What kept me holding were the huge lines for the model 3 reservations. I knew the demand was there. The rest would be figured out.

 

[Tommy O]

I will summarize it quickly. Basically China starts by copying the west, but they don't do it like we think. Instead 100 companies do a more or less photocopy of facebook/google/amazon/tesla etc. Some are not shy about it, they are copying everything, color, fonts, images etc. Then these companies start to compete with each other by adding new features. The company that wins is the most aggressive one, that has a culture of very rapidly improving and expanding the product. Sometimes the most ruthless company wins, the company that is not shy about using non-competitive tools such as bribes, sabotage etc. The company that eventually comes to dominate their local market will be much more than the western company they cloned and improving very rapidly. Wechat is not Facebook, Baidu is not Google, Alibaba is not Amazon etc.

Also China is investing in lot in winning AI. They think AI might be a weapon that can win wars, and they don't want to lose the war against America, they have been humiliated enough times and will not be humiliated again. They have massive amounts of data and the government has access to it. And in AI data is king.

In self driving cars, they have so many phds, so many engineers etc who are working on this. So many papers by Chinese and so many competitions are won by Chinese teams. They still have some braindrain to Silicon Valley and SV is very good at software, much better than Europe. Imo if it wasn't for Tesla/Waymo the west would be lost in the race. But Tesla are really damned good. Will the Chinese be able to catch up to Tesla? I am not sure, Tesla are still running very fast. They give their secrets away, but by the time the Chinese have copied most of it, they have replaced their stack again. And problems are brewing in China with an ageing demographics, real estate bubble and lending crisis, covid isolation, immunity deficits and general discontent. So we will see how the next decades play out...

Close. Check out Yukon Huang for a better, yet still imperfect, understanding of China and their economy. https://youtu.be/XepCi0I_g6I

Their AI advances have been...lackluster. I know AI is your wheelhouse, but I'd suggest you reexamine what they're producing in this area.

China is trying VERY hard to grow a domestic Tesla competitor. They have very talented and hard working engineers. That's also why they've been so welcoming to Tesla. They don't want to just copy. They know that's a long term losing strategy. They want to learn how to innovate on their own.

I gave you a disagree because of what I personally believe from studying China, professionally. I agree with a lot of what the author whose book you summarized wrote, but there are key things that I think are flat out 180 degrees wrong. It would take me a book in reply to sort it all out.

 

[wipster]

What kept me holding were the huge lines for the model 3 reservations. I knew the demand was there. The rest would be figured out.

I'd been a HODLer since right after the IPO and when my initial investment was up 1,000% I wasn't going anywhere with my initial shares, but I concur the model 3 reservations confirmed my decision and the model 3 production truly convinced me because it was in tents!!! True dedication by Elon and the Fremont staff.

 

[AudubonB]

OT realization:

It’s the 1980s again. Russia is the bad guy. We have inflation, supply shocks, and rising interest rates. Electronic music is everywhere. Dudes are starting to grow mustaches and mullets. We have an old president with the same approval as Reagan. The UK has a Tory woman as PM. Top Gun is the top film and Karate Kid deeply embedded in culture.

So… what happens next?

I finish my PhD aGAIN?

 

[Accident]

There’s +100 M3 LR available to order showing as “In Production”

Supposedly, no ultrasonic sensors. MY23. Hard to tell if anything else changed.

New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

Find new and used Tesla cars. Every new Tesla has a variety of configuration options and all pre-owned Tesla vehicles have passed the highest inspection standards.

www.tesla.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1578579560672526337

 

[StealthP3D]

OT realization:

It’s the 1980s again. Russia is the bad guy. We have inflation, supply shocks, and rising interest rates. Electronic music is everywhere. Dudes are starting to grow mustaches and mullets. We have an old president with the same approval as Reagan. The UK has a Tory woman as PM. Top Gun is the top film and Karate Kid deeply embedded in culture.

So… what happens next?

Neon pink, neon orange and neon yellow will start showing up everywhere?
People wear jackets that say "Members Only" but everyone knows anyone with $20 can buy them?
It's considered fashionable for women to wear miniature sweaters called "leg warmers" on their legs?
EV's become emasculated, start to look like shoes, become slower than a '58 VW Bug, and demand dries up to nothing?
If you are "bad", it actually means you are bad.

 

[MadScientist23]

Something that hasn't been talked about is whether the Chinese companies will allowed to put cars on the road in the US with cameras running 24/7 with a direct feed back to China. Does no one think that someone in our government would be against allowing China to have a constant surveillance fleet with feeds directly accessible by the Chinese government if desired? I don't like conspiracy theories but I doubt the general public or government offices would allow this. Thus any "FSD" in a Chinese car would be non-existent or severely crippled.

 

[SPadival]

What a dumpster fire of a thread! Thank god I stopped monitoring it a while ago

 

[wipster]

What a dumpster fire of a thread! Thank god I stopped monitoring it a while ago

It is the weekend my friend...

 

[wipster]

There’s +100 M3 LR available to order showing as “In Production”

Supposedly, no ultrasonic sensors. MY23. Hard to tell if anything else changed.

New & Used Electric Cars | Tesla

Find new and used Tesla cars. Every new Tesla has a variety of configuration options and all pre-owned Tesla vehicles have passed the highest inspection standards.

www.tesla.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1578579560672526337

Wild... If I was tempted, I'd be tempted...

 

[jbih]

Tesla Model S now has an option for a tow hitch (1600 kg towing capacity) in Germany:

I was called by Tesla regarding my order of a Model S Plaid and they confirmed that the tow hitch is optional for every Model S, independent of if it was orderd. It appears it's not possible to directly order it together with the car.

I also asked if it is possible to change options (why did I order the cream interior!) and he confirmed it is possible, while keeping the original price at the time of order - which now is a ~20€ difference. (I delayed the order because I'd rather have TSLA at the moment.)

 

[NicoV]

Tesla Model S now has an option for a tow hitch (1600 kg towing capacity) in Germany:

View attachment 861666

I was called by Tesla regarding my order of a Model S Plaid and they confirmed that the tow hitch is optional for every Model S, independent of if it was orderd. It appears it's not possible to directly order it together with the car.

I also asked if it is possible to change options (why did I order the cream interior!) and he confirmed it is possible, while keeping the original price at the time of order - which now is a ~20€ difference. (I delayed the order because I'd rather have TSLA at the moment.)

The tow hitch option has been available since the Model S Plaid orders have been reopened (3 months or so ago).

 

[kanweg]

Another video by Connecting the Dots, this one on why the best hydraulic braking system is no hydraulic braking system and the best hydraulic steer system is no hydraulic steering system.

warning for those with a CyberTruck on order, your waiting time will be more agonizing.
warning for those with no CyberTruck on order, you will want to order one (Elon, 4 seater mini version for a Europe please).
final warning: this video is more speculative; the other one concerned features determined by physics

 

[Mars ☰mperor]

Xi is widely respected in China for massively lifting those in poverty into economic prosperity.

Regarding China, here is some unbiased info right from Shanghai, not the "biased western view".

1st part: on Xi

No, Xi has NO contribution in lifting people out of poverty, none. Rather he destroyed a lot of wealth.
And I can attest to that people here in China DO NOT respect him AT ALL, as long as you are not brainwashed (sadly there are many many many who are because of the education system which kills critical thinking and the GFW) by the CCP. Knowledgeable mid class and upper class people see Xi as a joke.

Cleaning corruption? EVERYONE in China's political field is dirty if you just simply scratch the surface, so fixing corruption is a simple way to eliminate his political enemies.

There has been a campaign called "Xi Down Li Up" going on this year outside the GFW among the Chinese community, which calls for the retirement of Xi and that Premier Li Keying takes Xi's place after Xi's 2nd tenure. But who know what will happen next week during the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

2nd part: on innovation

But whatever happens, rest assured that China is not good at innovation at all, and IMO the education system is the culprit. The CCP just want Chinese people to be conforming mindless meatbags who would listen to anything they say. Any creative, original or innovative spirit is long lost during the decade long miserable education process.

What about the large number of research papers and patents? Yeah, there are a lot of them, but many are useless junk created with fabricated data by researchers in order not to lose their jobs, and most have no application value whatsoever. My wife works in a research institute after finishing her PhD, so I've seen first hand how universities and institutes work: money first, everything else is secondary.

Ask yourself: If those huge numbers of researches papers are of high quality, why has NO ONE in China EVER become a Nobel Laureate in science?

List of Chinese Nobel laureates - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Heck, there are not even ANY Chinese Nobel candidate in science!
(This Wikipedia page below in Chinese also shows Chinese Nobel candidates)

华人诺贝尔奖得主列表 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书

zh.wikipedia.org

In short, Chinese people are super smart and hard working, but the evil CCP system determines that 0 to 1 is near impossible for China right now.