1/ A thread on $TSLA & $NKLA. Why one scam skates free of regulatory scrutiny while the other one comes under heavy governmental fire.
And why Tesla stock now soars higher than ever.
I'll outline two explanations, both of which were suggested to me by a friend.
2/ First, there can be only One True Church. One True Religion. One True Savior. The heretics must be stamped out. Read about how the Catholics dealt with Arianism; how Magisterial Protestants treated Anabaptists; how Sunnis handle Shiites (& vice versa). So many examples.
3/ Or, in the ideological sphere, where the warring factions seem to share most views, but attempt to exterminate each other: Stalinists v. Trotskyites; Bolsheviks v. Mensheviks. Many other examples.
4/ $TSLA is the One True Church. Elon is the One True Savior. The heretics - erecting their revival tents on the Twitter prairie & preaching (or tweeting) to the masses - must be viciously eradicated.
The false church is Nikola. The false god is Trevor Milton.
5/ The True Believers in the Church of Elon have arisen in fury to condemn the sinful abominations & heretical desecrations of $NKLA & @nikolatrevor. With, of course, the Elder Deacons of the Church of Elon leading the way. electrek.co/2020/09/14/nik…
6/ Now, the second explanation. Elon as Master Magician.
7/ Has Elon told massive whoppers? Every bit, or bigger than those said to have been told by Trevor?
Of course he has. And many more of them. 500k per year by last year. Battery swapping. Renewable-powered Superchargers & factories. Robotaxis...
8/ Some of Elon's whoppers are downright dangerous. Unbridled faith in Autopilot is a killer, SUA is a killer, yet gaslighting Elon boasts of Tesla safety.
9/ And yet, Elon enjoys immunity from all this. The SEC finally tucked tail & slinked away. The NHTSA has not touched him. The DOJ appears toothless. The FTC averts its eyes.
Meanwhile, in almost no time, the SEC & DOJ are all over $NKLA.
10/ Was the Hindenburg Research report a $TSLA plant? And who is @InsiderNikola?
It really doesn't matter. The long knives are now out for Trevor & Nikola. Perhaps $GM can save Nikola, but it looks as if Trevor is in for a rough ride.
11/ The point is this: committing fraud is harder than it looks. Telling whoppers, then doubling down on them, requires true talent.
The great fraudsters, like the great athletes, make it look easy. But it's not easy. It requires endless practice & rare natural ability.
12/ Elon has shown himself to be the Michael Jordan of New Age Silicon Valley fraud. The hedge funds, the momo traders, the analysts: they see this. They respect this. They love this.
13/ As @TESLAcharts has famously said, "Fraud creates alpha."
There are plenty of journeymen (& journeywomen) fraudsters. And there are a few who play the game at a very high level.
14/ But the very greatest Charlatan, the most skilled liar, the most talented fraudster of our day? Why, there's just no doubt about how that is.
So, there's a $TSLA long thesis for you.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
First, the 2011 Administrative Order to which Twitter agreed to resolve shortcomings in data privacy & security practices. Naturally, Musk wants out. And, predictably, his counsel filed a motion that grossly misrepresents the state of affairs.
2/ The FTC isn't buying it, and slapped back hard. (Enjoy the citations to SEC v. Musk actions.) I'm guessing Twitter loses this one.
3/ Interesting side note: Musk at one point instructed his Twitter staff to give a certain "journalist" full & unrestricted access to all Twitter accounts & info. "No limits." Now, who might that "journalist" have been?
1/ A few thoughts about @WalterIsaacson's backpedaling on his stunning claim that Musk personally directed Starlink engineers to thwart a Ukrainian attack on Russian Black Sea naval vessels by turning off internet coverage within 100 kilometers of the Crimean coast.
3/ Another excerpt from the same biography appeared several days ago in @WSJ. It presented a laughably distorted account of Musk's acquisition of Twitter.
1/ Oh my, oh my, this becomes so much more tastier all the time. Our friend @chancery_daily is deeply immersed in the story, & writes this for those following the inside baseball. Here's a quick translation for the rest of us...
2/ First, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz represented Twitter in negotiating the merger agreement with Elon Musk's "X" companies. Wachtell did a BRILLIANT JOB.
3/ Big Mr. Tough Guy Elon said of his merger offer, "Take it or leave it."
Twitter took it; Wachtell drafted an agreement in which Elon waived all due diligence; Elon - the Great Genius of Our Times - signed it.
1/ Elon & Tucker, together on Twitter. Let's discuss.
For starters, Carlson might do well to study up on his Constitutional history a bit. While I would certainly never deny the crucial importance of the 1st Amendment, it was originally third, but the first two weren't ratified.
2/ I do agree with Carlson that much of the media has a left-wing bias. Just as his former employer, Fox, has a right-wing bias. Alas, in the time of Trump, Fox became far right-wing, then totally crazy, & finally completely irresponsible. Carlson was a big part of all that.
3/ I also agree with Carlson that Twitter could be an important platform for informing & educating. But no truly informed or educated person relies (or could ever rely) on Twitter alone to become informed or educated.
1/ As @EconomicManBlog notes, so many, many factors are missing from the CO2 emissions calculations relating to EVs. This great piece by Mills doesn't even mention one of the biggest: the short life that many of these batteries have relative to ICE vehicles.
2/ My biggest problem with $TSLA & Musk is that they have been at the forefront of making wildly unrealistic claims about how EVs will "save the Earth" in their endless quest for government give-aways & subsidies.
3/ You want to do something sensible to reduce your transportation carbon footprint? Buy a Toyota Corolla & drive & maintain it with care. Or, better, a Prius, or any other hybrid. Or, take the subway or bus. Or, ride your bike. Or, walk.