Tesla Stock Hits 'Funding Secured' $420 Price (electrek.co) 121
140Mandak262Jamuna writes: Elon Musk tweeted he had secured funding to take Tesla private at a share price of $420 right in the middle of a trading day in August 2018, without any prior approval from the board of directors. The plan fell through, SEC fined him and the company $20 million each and forced him to step down as Chairman.
The stock touched a low of $178 in Jun 2019 and it has been rising steadily and it has been on a tear in the last few trading days of the year. It briefly went above $420 today, touching a maximum of $422 and closing quite close to $420. Ihor Dusaniwsky of S3 Partners (a company that tracks short trades of hundreds of securities) is reporting that the people who sold the stock are finally being squeezed. They were $5.20 billion in YTD profit in the first week of June 2019 and have lost $7.3 billion in the last six months. Tesla supporters are euphoric and are lighting up twitterverse with lots of taunting messages directed at the shorts.
The stock touched a low of $178 in Jun 2019 and it has been rising steadily and it has been on a tear in the last few trading days of the year. It briefly went above $420 today, touching a maximum of $422 and closing quite close to $420. Ihor Dusaniwsky of S3 Partners (a company that tracks short trades of hundreds of securities) is reporting that the people who sold the stock are finally being squeezed. They were $5.20 billion in YTD profit in the first week of June 2019 and have lost $7.3 billion in the last six months. Tesla supporters are euphoric and are lighting up twitterverse with lots of taunting messages directed at the shorts.
Haters (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Haters (Score:5, Informative)
I honestly don't understand the hate, especially on this site. I know he beta tests on customers but lets be real here so does Linux. People here act like a $40k car is something only millionaires buy. Have you priced a truck or SUV lately? Because with a few options they're the same price.
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The ancestors of those haters called Andrew Carnegie a "robber baron" even as he built the nation's heavy industrial base. The green monster has always been a part of the human ecosystem.
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called Andrew Carnegie a "robber baron"
That's merely history, dude.
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Tesla made some nice cars, but it's Musk that gets to me. He can't stop lying to customers. Full self driving and robotaxis are not happening next year and lying to people about the progress Tesla is making is unacceptable to me.
I was going to buy a Model 3 anyway, but it was too small and uncomfortable. It's just me, lots of people are okay with them, but my body isn't compatible.
Not lying (Score:2)
He can't stop lying to customers. Full self driving and robotaxis are not happening next year
There is a vast difference between delivery schedules slipping because of optimism, and lying.
It's very obvious full self driving is close. Especially if you watch the full presentation he (and his techncial staff) did.
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It is substantially in error to judge the relative tractability of remaining problems by a presentation. That's true even when the problems are marginal. It takes a detailed analysis to judge the tractability of any unsolved problem, even when it lives next to a solved problem.
Re: Not lying (Score:1)
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Humans are just better at dealing with unpredictable random shit than computers.
1.25 million deaths per year seems to contradict that.
(plus it's been rising in the last few years, probably due to cellphone use)
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You seem to have failed logic. In no way does your rebuttal provide evidence that computers would be better.
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You seem to have failed logic. In no way does your rebuttal provide evidence that computers would be better.
His rebuttal doesn't but that doesn't make it incorrect. Go look up the numbers yourself. There are many published from a variety of self / automated driving scenarios and compared with standard rates.
Cars are already in normal conditions better than human drivers. In abnormal conditions the human is still superior at *navigating* but definitely not superior at handling "unpredictable shit" since human's reactions are inherently unpredictable, and human's sensory systems inherently fallible. This is precise
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Shame on you.
Any site that shares that 1.25M statistic likely also contains this:
Over 90% of all road fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries, which have less than half of the world’s vehicles.
That means no- it doesn't contradict that. Not even a little bit.
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There is a level 1 to 5 standard of automotive levels of self driving.
A set of levels created and standardised *after* Telsa started using their marketing terms.
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Remember that he originally said the coast to coast demo would be in 2017. And it's obvious from their demonstrated capabilities and their presentations that they are years away.
They haven't even demonstrated environment mapping yet!
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There is not a lot of difference between Tesla's "optimism" and lying.
I hate Elon Musk communication and Tesla fandom. But I still admire Elon Musk intelligence and business sense. That's why I can't believe that his "optimism" is honest.
And full self driving is *not* close. Neither Waymo nor Tesla nor others are close. The big technical problems are solved, what remains are the thousands small ones, plus the non technical (mostly legal). What Tesla calls "full self driving" right now is *supervised* self d
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Super old joke: What's the difference between a car salesman and a computer salesman? A car salesman knows when he is lying to you.
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Right, right, right, and Colonel Sanders was not actually a Colonel.
Hopefully nobody tells you that Keebler cookies are not made by elves.
Sanders was a Colonel (Score:2)
Colonel Sanders was not actually a Colonel.
Actually the Governor of Kentucky commissioned him in 1935.
"Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by the governor and the secretary of state to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state, or the nation. The Governor of Kentucky bestows the honor of a colonel's commission, by issuance of letters patent."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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In this context 'colonel' is a civilian honour, not a military rank, so to everyone outside of Kentucky Sanders was not a colonel.
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Actually, he was a colonel. You may personally decide not to recognize it, but that doesn't make it untrue. According to the article, Kentucky Colonels are considered "aides-de-camp" to the Governor - which may not get used much, or at all, but it is still there.
Applying your logic, anyone who is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II isn't a knight/dame if they are outside the U.K.
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Shit, people around here were throwing fried chicken at each other even in the Hot Grits Era.
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Entirely off-topic, but I wonder how many US presidents besides Bush the Elected were in violation of Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution:
8: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Re-read your quote and notice the phrase "no Person holding any Office ...". Bush held no office when he was knighted. He was a former President and retired from politics at the time. There was no violation.
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Entirely off-topic, but I wonder how many US presidents besides Bush the Elected were in violation of Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution
Three have been nighted. Eisenhower, Reagan and Bush. Zero violations since they no longer were in any office.
Some say the count is four since Eisenhower was knighted in both Britain and Denmark.
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In this context 'colonel' is a civilian honour, not a military rank, so to everyone outside of Kentucky Sanders was not a colonel.
Funny, many people outside of Kentucky are aware of honorary state "Colonel" titles. Even us yankees.
And no the title does not end at the border, the benefits mights, but not the title. Much like the military ranks do not end at the military base property line, and do not end with leaving the military. The authority ends at both of these but not the honorary titles referring to former rank.
Re: Haters (Score:1)
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140Mandick262JamInAnus (Score:1)
Looks like it is irrelevant enough for you to:
140Mandick262JamInAnus fakes ownership of a Tesla Model 3. [slashdot.org]
140Mandick262JamInAnus claims Li:ion battery energy density doubles every 7 years. [slashdot.org]
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This was inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, at one point Tesla's success was not inevitable, but it has been for at least the past year. The shorts were all gambling some magical event would happen to reverse Tesla's fortunes, like maybe they would not meet sales goals or something - not sure what, but anyway that plan failed spectacularly and now we'll all be witness to what I think is the most massive short unwinding in history.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em, shorts...
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The shorts, the size and scope, demonstrated they were not be accident but part of a fiscal conspiracy to drive down the Tesla share price, even to the point of forcing the economic collapse of loans to make it a ripe take over target, to be bought, likely buyer FORD backed by the corrupt banskters engineering the mass shorting. It failed and a lot of gullible idiots got burned unware of the scheme running in the background.
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Tesla had already turned a profit (Score:2)
Tesla is not making money, it is a mess.
Reality disagrees with you [google.com]
Re: Tesla had already turned a profit (Score:1)
Re: This was inevitable (Score:1)
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It failed and a lot of gullible idiots got burned unware of the scheme running in the background.
They didn't merely "get burned," they attempted to burn somebody and burned themselves instead. That is not a victim.
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The bet is that Tesla can't deliver "full self driving" by next year as promised. It's a good bet as they have repeatedly failed before and are nowhere near even a controlled demonstration.
Tesla is betting on robotaxis being a big source of revenue, and when that doesn't happen on time (if ever) there will be some consequences. Eventually people will stop believing Musk.
Quite what te consequences will be isn't clear. People who paid for it might want a refund at the very least. Investors expecting that retu
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That's a stupid bet because it hinges on a label where the person trying to do the thing is also in charge of the labels. We know they can achieve it or not, as they desire, we don't need to know anything about the technological progress to know that part.
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Tesla made the mistake of defining "full self driving" back in 2016. The said you could summon it from the other side of the country, meaning no driver and charging and cleaning itself along the way.
They also said it would drive you to work while you took a nap. They have to reach that level or they owe people refunds. Since those cars are nearly 4 years old now they are running out of time to deliver.
Re: This was inevitable (Score:1)
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The really funny thing is that he said a Model 3 would be with $350k by next year because of the earning potential.
If it did happen sales would drop right off because no one would have to be driving around in a taxi.
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What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard...
Mortgaged your Portland tiny house for that short position, did you?
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no it's just amazing that in a sea of bad posters on /., I recognize his name as a consistently bad poster. I wouldn't bother shorting Tesla right now because the market is ignoring the fundamentals, so "stock go up" despite huge management / high level employee turnover (lost their general counsel 3 times in 2019 alone), all the insiders selling shares at a huge rate (look at Kimbal Musk's disclosures), etc.
There is definitely serious fraud going on at Tesla (look at the $1 billion in accounts receivable
Re: This was inevitable (Score:2)
Re: This was inevitable (Score:5, Informative)
But it is not pure timing that got the shorts wrong. Tesla has some fundamentals that make far more valuable than an auto company. The utility scale battery tech it has developed, has no equal anywhere else. 1000 homes with rooftop panels and home battery devices were able to step in and save the grid from collapsing in south australia. Thats the kind of technology people dont know how to value.
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Fundamentals are what makes success inevitable (Score:3)
That being said, Tesla as a company has -horrible- fundamentals and is shockingly overpriced.
You re ignoring the battery factory and solar business, also the huge lead they have over other companies in delivering electric cars at scale, and a large charging network of high quality.
Tesla is wildly *under*valued. That's why I bought some stock when it was low, it was the surest thing I have ever seen.
I don't even own a Tesla myself... but I know a lot of people who do.
Re: Fundamentals are what makes success inevitable (Score:1)
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The growing company taking market share away always has PEG ratios higher than the incumbents. e.g. Amazon has been valued much higher than say Sears even when Sears was much much bigger and much more profitable than Amazon. People are buying the growth, disruption and future market leadership not the situation today. The stock price is always a forward looking indicator
Re: This was inevitable (Score:2)
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There is nothing in their potential future that could justify their current market value.
Umm, maybe you didn't notice but stock valuation has had almost nothing to do with the actual value of a company for a couple of decades now. Not long ago Apple was "worth" more than Exxon or Microsoft.
Re: This was inevitable (Score:1)
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You need to put the BR tag where you want your paragraph to end. Slashdot didn't support double carriage return to create a new paragraph at all just a few years ago.
Why, oh why? (Score:1)
Why is this relevent, and why is it here? Is there any reason besides slashdot being slavering fanbois?
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Why not. It's still better than any article about how much the Cats movie sucks.
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Do we actually know for a fact that anybody has actually seen the movie to tell us if it sucks?
Have you seen it?
It has Furries, how bad can it be?
Re:Why, oh why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is this relevent, and why is it here?
Because Tesla is as close to a pure Nerd company as you'll ever see, and this site is for News for Nerds.
Also there is a subset of stock nerdery at work here that is kind of interesting.
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Hahahahahaha
Work for a software company ...
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Missed the Dot Bomb, did you?
Re:Why, oh why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is this relevent, and why is it here? Is there any reason besides slashdot being slavering fanbois?
Because Tesla stands for innovation and the technology of tomorrow , today. Because Tesla takes a huge risk making these bets and providing these products despite traditional markets and "safe" paths.
Because if Tesla wasn't pushing as hard as they are then EV's, private solar, consumer flame throwers, and sports cars floating to Mars wouldn't be a thing.
THAT'S WHY... slavering indeed.
Re:Why, oh why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly. Without Tesla nobody else would be offering pure electric cars.
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No, without Tesla Musk would be over at SpaceX fucking up their work. Instead he's just screwing up Tesla which isn't that important because there are a bunch of other electric car manufacturers (the world doesn't exist around Musk or the US).
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No, without Tesla Musk would be over at SpaceX fucking up their work.
Golly, it is almost like you don't know he's running the show and that they're having a lot of success!
No, those are not mutants.
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Instead he's just screwing up Tesla
In what way? Point us directly to strategic decisions Musk is making that are negatively impacting Tesla.
Bonus points for doing it in a reply to a story about how insanely well valued Tesla is currently under Musk's leadership, indicating a fuckton of investors directly disagree with you.
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Except that people were offering pure electric cars before Tesla came along. In fact until this year the Nissan Leaf both pre-dated the Tesla Model S and out sold every car Tesla ever made combined.
The Model 3 is still an expensive car. Other manufacturers are catering to the affordable end of the market. The MG ZS-EV is incredible value and a decent enough car, for example.
Credit where credit is due.
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Except that people were offering pure electric cars before Tesla came along. In fact until this year the Nissan Leaf both pre-dated the Tesla Model S and out sold every car Tesla ever made combined.
The Model 3 is still an expensive car. Other manufacturers are catering to the affordable end of the market. The MG ZS-EV is incredible value and a decent enough car, for example.
Credit where credit is due.
Touche.
They did not invent the electric vehicle. They just made it S3xy.
You're welcome.
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Except that people were offering pure electric cars before Tesla came along.
You mean the little 60-mile-range Nissan Leaf frog-eyed commuter special?
There's not a single other car maker selling electric cars that you can practically take on a long road trip.
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MG ZS-EV (Score:2)
I had to look that one up and the MG ZS-EV is from an Indian company. The same country that lets you buy "modern" cars that are actually British designs from the 1950s. It's cheap for a reason. The brochure boasts that it has seatbelts!
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No MG is Chinese now. They are nice cars, well built and they feel very good for the money inside. I drove one and it wasn't bad.
Safety wise it's got AEB of course, and lane follow assist with adaptive cruise control. Oh and blind spot warning, and I think cross traffic warning is an option.
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Just came back from Inda. Did you know they still make Royal Enfield motorcycles there? That 350 single cylinder still has that perfect Brit Bike sound. I **really** want one.
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If I recall correctly, by around the year 2000, GM and the other US auto makers had successfully convinced everybody they'd made a good faith effort, but electric cars weren't going to be feasible any time soon. Electric cars were done and dusted.
Then along came Musk, and he made them eat their words, get out of bed with the oil companies and get back in the game.
Credit where it's due.
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Nissan proved that a lithium cell powered car could be affordable and practical long before the Model S came out.
Nissan pioneered a lot of the ideas we take for granted now, in terms of EV specific features. They really thought about how people would use the car. Tesla later added some of it to the Model S but actually even now it's a bit lacking in some areas like range estimation.
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Except that people were offering pure electric cars before Tesla came along. In fact until this year the Nissan Leaf both pre-dated the Tesla Model S and out sold every car Tesla ever made combined.
The Model 3 is still an expensive car. Other manufacturers are catering to the affordable end of the market. The MG ZS-EV is incredible value and a decent enough car, for example.
Credit where credit is due.
Why are you ignoring the Tesla Roadster? In my mind, that's the car that made people realize that electric vehicles could be serious cars. Was there a battery EV car in production prior to that? The Nissan Leaf didn't hit highways until two years later.
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The roadster was interesting but more of a high concept low volume car. The Model S was the first mass production one.
Also the Roadster wasn't actually such a great EV. No rapid charging, very limited EV features. The Leaf showed what an EV needed to be like to be practical and developed a lot of the concepts that are now standard like range estimation, blended regen, rapid DC charging etc.
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Interesting that you see it that way. I agree that it was pretty low volume, but it was a production car. Anyone could order one and it would be delivered.
And the Roadster was the best BEV ever at the time it came out. The Roadster showed Nissan what they would need to improve upon if they wanted to be practical.
Your bias is clear. The fact that you ignored my main points and try to make it look like Nissan was the one that developed EV concepts is evidence of this.
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What did Nissan learn from the Roadster?
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Partly to bring out the Tesla lovers to write more comments, and partly to bring out the Tesla haters like you, to write even more comments. Because more content means more pagerank means more ad impressions. Are you new?
Lets put things in perspective: (Score:5, Interesting)
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I mean, unless they exited their short positions while they were still profitable.
Re:Lets put things in perspective: (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean, unless they exited their short positions while they were still profitable.
If they did that, they'd no longer be shorts.
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and at this milestone, they've seen they're hope go up in smoke!
hawk
And so the moral is... (Score:2)
Why? (Score:2)
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I bought at $190 and am happy.
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As of now, market tilted towards "those dreams can become reality" again. Don't forget there's decent track record with spacex. It's foolish to decry Tesla or Apple fanboyism, the irrational popularity and astroturfing inherent to it, when it
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Bike (Score:2)
Slightly off topic but did telsa ever have plans to release an electric motorbike? I'm not a big fan of the current chinese models being released.
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It's a new high for Tesla.
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It was fraud. Many have gone to jail for much less. Letting Musk get away with securities fraud will only encourage more to do it and shows that our capital markets are fundamentally broken.
Re: So what? (Score:2)
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guess again, have invented things and am old married professional with good salary.
Musk is engineer but name an invention
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A new mouse trap? You should send it to this guy to test some Mousetrap Monday.
https://www.youtube.com/user/h... [youtube.com]