1/ Random thoughts about Tesla. A short thread. 2/ As @Tweetermeyer, who now lives happily at Thre*ds has observed, Elon Musk invented the meme stock phenomenon in 2013. Since then, Tesla has traded on Musk lies & bullshit, with major assists from crooked & cynical analysts such as Ives, Jonas, Ferragu, etc. ...

1/ I've taken a look at the NHTSA's most recent update by its Office of Defects Investigation. It's devastating for Tesla in numerous ways. 2/ It's a cornucopia of exceptionally helpful information for attorneys pursuing claims for injuries or death to their clients.

1/ So, $0.34 GAAP EPS fully diluted. Assuming things get no worse for the rest of 2024, that would be $1.36 GAAP EPS. That works out to a P/E ratio (based on AH price I'm seeing right now) of about 112. Or, about 18 times higher than industry average. (But things will get worse.) 2/ This is for a company that is shrinking, not growing. That made a strikingly vague promise about accelerating the production of new models. That burned $2.5B in cash in Q4. That has continued to slash prices.

1/ Musk & the Law. Short thread.

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.

(h/t @weed10_weed)

s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2397…

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.

https://twitter.com/WalterIsaacson/status/1700342242290901361

2/ The claim appears in an excerpt from the imminently forthcoming "authorized" Musk biography. The excerpt appeared in @washingtonpost:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…

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...

https://twitter.com/chancery_daily/status/1677375269114634243

2/ First, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz represented Twitter in negotiating the merger agreement with Elon Musk's "X" companies. Wachtell did a BRILLIANT JOB.

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.

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1656037032538390530

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.

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.

https://twitter.com/EconomicManBlog/status/1655942631304867842

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.

1/ Okay. Let's discuss. Tesla complains that the article is "biased and misleading." But it makes no claim of inaccuracy.

Musk & $TSLA simply DETEST @russ1mitchell for being one of the few journalists who, from a long way back, have understood exactly who Musk is.

https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/1653172351616569345

2/ Others include @lopezlinette & @CGrantWSJ & @RMac18 & @faizsays & several others, but especially, with highest honors, @Tweetermeyer.

1/ Update on Hothi v. Musk, in which Hothi is suing Musk for defamation. Here's some background for those unfamiliar with the dispute:

https://twitter.com/montana_skeptic/status/1585786667872710656

2/ As many of you will recall, Hothi filed his defamation suit in August of 2020. The case was delayed for a long while when Musk filed, lost, appealed, and lost again an anti-SLAPP motion.

1/ It’s very likely last call on Twitter to raise funds for @skabooshka (Randeep Hothi) in his defamation lawsuit against Elon Musk. Anything you can contribute will be most gratefully received. A link is here. A summary of the case follows.

gofundme.com/f/s42q3-skaboo… 2/ Hothi is a citizen journalist. His documentation of the construction of the tent in which to build the $TSLA Model 3 cars attracted a wide viewership. His skepticism about Musk’s Full Self-Driving claims was cogent and, obviously, well-founded.

1/ My take on the stay in $TWTR v. Musk.

Key language in the order: "Defendants...have agreed to close on the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 25, 2022 and have moved to stay this action in light of their agreement." 2/ This is, in effect, a new agreement: an agreement by Defendants, despite their termination & their counterclaims, to close on the original agreement.

This is, IMO, a brilliant move by the Chancellor.

1/ With so much financial market insanity (Apes, SPACs, unicorns, jackasses like Gerber, charlatans like Wood, gamma squeezes, etc.), is it possible to identify a turning point, where just bad turned to truly terrible? 2/ I think so. It came in April 2019 when then USDC (and now 2nd Circuit Ct App) Judge Alison J. Nathan was tasked with enforcing a settlement agreement that required Musk to get lawyer approval of his $TSLA-related tweets.

1/ Is Elon Musk poised to attempt to disqualify Wachtell Lipton from representing $TWTR? @chancery_daily, taking a hint from @AnnMLipton, gets out his magnifying glass to look at present clues, then surveys a bit of informative case law...

https://twitter.com/chancery_daily/status/1566193555080708098

2/ This is, yes, in the weeds, and there are two separate issues at work, conflict of interest & waiver of attorney-client privilege. But the implications are enormous.

1/ I have admired no pundit more than @allahpundit, who bids farewell to @hotair. His farewell note is well worth reading for those who, like me, who are deeply sad to see what a wreckage the Republican Party has become.

hotair.com/allahpundit/20… 2/ From his farewell:

1/ Quick thoughts on today's rulings in $TWTR v. [Musk}.

First & foremost, whoa, Chancellor McCormick is an incredibly hard worker. She has had massive volumes of argument & evidence thrown at her, and is turning rulings around with exceptional swiftness. 2/ Her clerks must be gasping for breath, too.

But, she put the parties to an expedited schedule, and made their lawyers work exceptionally hard, and she is not shirking from her end of the bargain.

Color me deeply impressed.

1/ Quick thoughts on @elonmusk & $TWTR.

I won't repeat what the formidable @matt_levine has written. Go to his pinned tweet. Subscribe to his endlessly insightful & amusing newslettter (astonishingly, it's free). 2/ Capitalism, which I don't view as a dirty word, depends vitally on the rule of law. The idea that the law applies to all, and that contracts will be enforced. This is especially true when the contracts are among sophisticated parties represented by competent counsel.

1/ Off topic. I was called to jury duty this week. The summons several weeks back required me to fill out a lengthy juror questionnaire. 2/ The jury pool had 80 people. I was juror 17, and so in the firing line. A handful of potential jurors were dismissed for hardships. Each side had six peremptory strikes. So, the name of the game was try to get jurors dismissed for cause.

1/ @DoombergT is on fire, immaculately, with a brilliant piece the skewers the complete idiocy of Amogy's ammonia-powered tractor. Targets also include Amazon's Climate Change fund:

doomberg.substack.com/p/immaculate-c… 2/ From the piece:

1/ Quick thoughts on @elonmusk's agreement to purchase $TWTR.

First, contrary to many press reports, Twitter's only option (besides renegotiating the price downward) is NOT simply to collect $1B. Rather, both parties also have a right of specific performance: 2/ The margin loan is gone. So, does that give Musk an out? No, because he voluntarily chose to forego the margin loan after signing the deal, likely because he appreciated what a grave threat it was to the TSLA share price.

1/ As promised, some further thoughts on the Elon Musk Crash Course documentary, which premiered yesterday evening on FX & Hulu.

$tsla 2/ @russ1mitchell has written a superb review of the documentary. I'll try not to plow too much of the same ground. (And I'll say it again, my online subscription to @latimes is a bargain, even if I often gag at the editorials.)

latimes.com/entertainment-…