if you had a choice between buying a car that would save the planet and it was the only car available that would do so, but the company was owned by a person whose political views were the opposite of yours, would you say screw the planet and not buy the car? ------ Tesla Remains a Fave of Retail Investors -- Market Talk 10:19 am ET December 21, 2022 (Dow Jones) Print 1018 ET - Tesla shares are down about 60% this year, but the electric vehicle maker remains a favorite of nonprofessional investors. Tesla has been the most-purchased stock among US retail investors in 2022, dethroning Apple, according to data from Vanda Research. The $15.2B of retail purchases is a record for Tesla. The stock is up 1.6% at $140.03 on light volume. ([email protected]) (END) Dow Jones Newswires December 21, 2022 10:19 ET (15:19 GMT) Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
If Tesla was the one and only EV, and I definitely want an EV as my next car, then yes, I would still buy it regardless of how mean Musk is being on twitter. The thing is, Tesla is not the only EV. Never mind pure EV, but the hybrids are looking pretty damn good too! I would have never considered a Prius as a possible contender, but have you seen the new one? The recent damage to Elon's image has only happened over the past 5 weeks since he took over Twitter. This is not enough time for the retail investor to care as is mentioned in the article. The average retail investor sees the stock is down 60% for the year and thinks this is an amazing time to load up, there is no deep dive needed beyond that. But if you dive a bit deeper you have to start considering more complicated issues like how does Elon's brand image as a person affect Tesla, if at all. If a popular CEO starts insulting the political beliefs of majority of his customers, does this effect future sales? Will his $44B purchase of TWTR than requires $1B in loan interest be a continued drag on TSLA stock? In this politically charged climate I would his actions will be damaging to future sales, but that is just my feelings and not facts. We need to see next quarters sales to gauge that if that is actually true.
So Looks Like the Obvious Wasn’t Stated Here Today. Another Day, Another New Low. I Didn’t Think I Would Get this Opportunity. I’m Still Waiting for my Entry. Nevertheless, Now I am More Cautious than Ever. -IndependentCandy14
Tesla’s Demise is going to be Their Product, Not Elon. See my Post Above. Tesla Cars Cost too Much and the Quality is not to Par. Elon Could, Should, and Would Leave Tesla. He’s got Bigger and Better things to Worry About Now in his Eyes. He Did What he Could for Tesla. Now the Genius is Focused on SpaceX, Boring, and Twitter. It is His Money, We Don’t Decide Where he Works. -IndependentCandy14
Elon was a Saint the Past Decade. All of the Sudden He is the Bad Man. Tesla Bulls from the Past 5 Years should be Buying Shares Hand Over Fist. Seems like this thread has gone from Tesla to Elon Bashing. Give me a Break. -IndependentCandy14
Anywho. Sorry for my Little Rant. But if Someone Liked Tesla at $300-350++ why not Now? Elon’s Twitter? Hardly. Talk about the People Shorting Tesla. -IndependentCandy14
I may think Elon is being a dumbass lately, but TSLA is on SALE lately. I would not bet on any crazy climbs like the last few years, but it's still the EV leader for a reason. They are everywhere here.
I bought and held presplit. After split 248.05 was my cost basis, at one time I was up 25%. I walked it down and sold at a small profit and have traded ir several times since then. My last buy was a 5% gain "premarket" and the investor side of me went against my trader side and held. It took some defense to get out with a small loss this round and due to wash rules I'm out for 30 days "including options". It's hard to start new positions across the board in times like this. Had I held my original position at 248.05 I would be down 50%, meaning Tesla would have to gain 100% just to be back where I started from. In Hindsight my trader side usually performs better than his evil twin. Santa Claus rally or not, I'm not taking any hold type positions until we get a better confirmation of the market.
When new and exciting tech comes along, there is a period where everybody loves it and wants to be a part of it. This period of maximum hype is accompanied with insanely high valuation based of best case scenarios. At $400 TSLA was worth more than ALL the other car companies combined. We all knew its overvalued, but if anybody wanted to join the fun, they needed to pay the price! Inflated PE's are nothing new, we have had them for years on darlings like AMZN, but as always, one of two things happen, either earnings rise to meet price, or price comes down to meet earnings. I think traders are going to get a good opportunity in the $100 area for a solid bounce, but going forward there are a lot of factors to consider including the yet unknown damage to the image of the brand (if any) and any surprises from competing EVs.
I share your view on this. The Twitter circus caused damage to Tesla's franchise value. I will not pretend to know how much damage but there is clearly some. That is the question a real investor asks. To understand my answer to your question, please consider the idea that we do not live in the same reality. I am an investor. I own companies. When I buy shares, I am a partner in that business. The CEO may not know I exist and he would probably clean his fountain pen on the lapel of my jacket but we are partners, all the same. Would I like to be partners with Elon Musk and the rest of the Tesla corporation? On balance... probably but it is not as clear as it was in 2016 and later in 2019 when I backed the truck up. Elon has lost part of his mind to an alternate reality in which conspiracies are all consuming. He is still doing an OK job but, at some point, he will need to be replaced and that is going to be a wild ride, to say the least. Are their companies I would rather be partners with than Tesla? Yes. Will I pump more money into them at the current discount? I already have put a bit but very little and no immediate plans to do anything beyond rounding up to even board lots. Can you imagine trying to dislodge Elon from Tesla? Do you realize how many people will back Elon, regardless of how insane he becomes or how far down he drives the business? It wouldn't even be safe to try to replace him. Legions of people would literally take up arms to support him. He controls a cult. And then there is the consideration of who could replace him? He has tagged the CEO of Tesla China as the air apparent. This man is probably an impressive person but putting anyone new in charge would be a new game and we won't know how it will turn out. Certainly, I don't trust him with my money... yet. Right now, I am sitting on a whole lot of cash. I'm not specifically timing the market, although I would definitely buy some stuff if there was a sharp crash or if the slow crash we have had continues much further. That spending spree might include a small tranche of Tesla. I may also not buy any equities with that cash. My triggers have nothing to do with numbers going up and down. I just want to own well run companies. I don't look at the market as a slot machine. I don't need to keep stuffing money into it. I own a substantial amount of wonderful businesses that are well run and I fully trust management. I am exactly where I want to be. In a perfect world, would I tweak? Sure, but not a lot. Watching people try to scalp an up-tick and time trades is like watching China try to stop COVID with their zero COVID policy. I'm cheering for them to succeed but know that, long term, they will not.
I just re-read the above post and I think we can all agree, I am doing a really good job of alienating people. I really appreciate when other people share their mindset and what drives them to engage the markets, as they do. Thank you to all of you. I've learned a lot. I'm trying to reciprocate but I can see I need to work on both my humility and my interpersonal skills. This forum has my word I will improve my conduct.
Tesla Shorts have about $15B in Profits. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesl...llion-in-profits-morning-brief-110021261.html -IndependentCandy14
I think this is an interesting conversation to have. Elon IS the brand. When you think Tesla, you think Elon Musk. This has always been the plan and it works for some tech companies, eg Steve Jobs IS/WAS Apple. When you thought Apple, you immediately thought of Steve Jobs in his black turtleneck and his rockstar like following by tech lovers. To this day I do not know what Steve Job's politics were. He was likely a Democrat, seems the type, but I never saw him get on stage and say that the the Right are fascist and racists, now please buy my phone. That would be a stupid move that would alienate half his customers. For Elon musk to go on Twitter and mock pronouns, then say the the woke mind virus must be destroyed, is a direct insult to most of his current and potential customers. His PR team, if they are still under contract, were doing the facepalm when that happened. Lucky for him that people are stupid and have short memories! All he needs to do here is stop tweeting out politically charged messages, donate to some Democrat in the next cycle, talk about solar power and saving the earth, and most people will forget most of what happened this past month. His image has been tainted here, but a good PR team can fix most of it in time. The pressing question is how many of the people announcing on Twitter that they are cancelling a Tesla order, or not buying a Tesla now are actual current or future owners vs reactionary internet warriors. We need to wait for Q1 and Q2 to get a proper number on that.
I enjoy reading your post regardless of our position. No need to change anything. Don't be sensitive, be a Man, not some offended snowflake that is confused about the World. Some of these younger fellows are amusing to watch.
nor do i, but sure know about his wife's political persuasions, not that it has any impact on selling apple products. but i get it, people vote with their wallets. i used to be a big bruce springsteen fan until he went off the rails to the left. you won't find any of his songs in my spotify library today.
I believe Elon can still be meek and charming, when required. I also believe this is his real personality. When he is sleep deprived, he can be a galaxy class a-hole. This is also his real personality. At least some people have been put off buying a Tesla because of Elon's recent behavior. I don't have any numbers but I know a couple of folks who are now shopping Hyundai. What makes people spin out of their orbit and start trying to tell everyone to vote their way? It's not a sign of mental stability.
We had a quick glimpse at this side of him when those kids were trapped in the cave. Elon came out and called the guy a pedo for no reason. It was weird, but everybody just brushed it off. Then he attacked Bill Gates for being fat when he found out that Gates was short TSLA at $380. Its pretty clear this has been his personality all along, and now he just has his own platform to do with as he pleases.
It's pretty clear Tesla is struggling to make it's year end numbers. They are offering $7500 discount and 10,000 miles of free charging on cars delivered before the end of the year.
