Are you also investing in Tesla?

[Iamthecaliflower]

To be honest, the stock kind of scares me.. If reality kicks in, and Tesla is a success, Teslas valuation deserves to be much higher then 3billion. The PE could conceivably deserve to be 30-50 given the huge growth potential once the EV market really gets going. Teslas entire business model is assuming once the price comes down, and once early adopters spread the word about Tesla, Tesla will be the next Apple. It's a huge part of the reason there is no advertising. When looking at what 2016 will be, assuming no new deals come into being, and nothing new happens, the stock is way undervalued. I have provided math for what I think it is worth. Nonetheless, the insane short float on the stock and the massive propaganda being spewed by the media has me concerned. I almost feel as if the stock could plummet because of some sort of mass conspiracy (and I'm no conspiracy nut). I have posted when it is going up, it's just that the unusual volume as of lately has me intrigued. Also, the term cup and handle being thrown around has me thinking it is also possible a short squeeze is coming. I honestly don't understand why anyone would be short Tesla now. I would imagine it would be much safer to simply own puts.

[dmckinstry]

Looks like you are getting your wish.. (Down another $1 to $33.40 at 11am today)

Yeh. I was hoping for ~$34 as then next 52 week low.

[richkae]

Manufacturing handheld devices in the couple hundred dollar range and selling downloadable songs and apps is very different from making cars.
With millions of dollars of capital you can sell billions of dollars worth of virtual goods. The margin on the virtual goods is so high that selling billions of dollars of virtual goods yields billions of dollars of profit.

The capital cost to building and selling cars is probably a couple of order of magnitudes larger, and the profit margin is much smaller. Selling, servicing and warranting the products is also much more expensive.

If a million people went to Tesla with cash and wanted a car, how long would it take Tesla to build them? The factory aquisitions, expansions and building production lines would take years.

I believe Tesla will succeed, but please stop the "next Apple" crap.

[AnOutsider]

To be honest, the stock kind of scares me..

Then, as has been pointed out numerous times, you shouldn't be investing. If you DO choose to continue to invest, it's IMPERATIVE you understand that there WILL be dips to go with the rises. It's NEVER going to be all sunshine (look at APPL's "crash" last October). There's no sunshine without rain my friend. What goes up, must come down. I could go on with apt sayings, but the bottom line is this is reality and if you're going to play the game, then you have to accept that without freaking out every time the sun goes behind the clouds.

[JRP3]

Indeed. Our cruciferous friend seems to blow a gasket every time there is slight downward movement, or in the absence of upward movement. We are pretty much in a holding pattern from now until production models start rolling out, there is nothing to report and no reason for the stock to make major moves, barring some surprise announcement.

[daniel]

"We're the third-most-shorted stock on the Nasdaq,"

I googled this and didn't see a mention of TSLA. Maybe Musk is referring to percentage basis and the hits Google came up with were in terms of dollar value.

I'm not a big follower of the market, but I get a weekly email from Vanguard, and it seems the DOW is down this week. That could be enough to depress TSLA a dollar or two. I'm actually pondering doubling my (small) holding, in advance of the Model S. The checking account that was paying 1% is now paying 0.5%. Maybe I'll put a few bucks into TSLA just because I like my car so much. It's so much fun to drive. I test-drove a Leaf, and even that was fun to drive. And it was much easier to get in and out of. I think there will be a lot of new enthusiasm for Tesla when people start driving the S. I still won't bet big on any individual stock. But maybe it's time to buy some more, though it's near its peak, and that's not generally a good time to buy anything.

[JRP3]

Number 12th most shorted stock by percentage on this list: http://www.highshortinterest.com/

[Robert.Boston]

At the risk of seeming to provide investment advice (which I'm not licensed to do--consult a professional), holding significant sums in a bank account today--beyond what you need for within-month cash management--seems to me to be a horrible proposition. Interest rates are well below inflation rates, so you are literally losing money on those accounts. TSLA may not be the answer for you, depending on your risk tolerance, but at least consider buying corporate bonds or something!

[gg_got_a_tesla]

At the risk of seeming to provide investment advice (which I'm not licensed to do--consult a professional), holding significant sums in a bank account today--beyond what you need for within-month cash management--seems to me to be a horrible proposition. Interest rates are well below inflation rates, so you are literally losing money on those accounts. TSLA may not be the answer for you, depending on your risk tolerance, but at least consider buying corporate bonds or something!

More investment (or not!) advice from a non-professional: beyond the dollops of payroll deductions that go into mutual funds in the stock market via 401(k) accounts and 529 college savings plans, I prefer investing some liquid cash in individual stocks for 3-4 years while keeping the rest in checking/savings accounts that provide other forms of returns beyond the infinitesimal interest - specifically, tax-exempt frequent flyer miles that help us do some globe-trotting in business class and such. No surprise that I'm as much a Flyertalk junkie as I'm a TMC one!

[AnOutsider]

More investment (or not!) advice from a non-professional: beyond the dollops of payroll deductions that go into mutual funds in the stock market via 401(k) accounts and 529 college savings plans, I prefer investing some liquid cash in individual stocks for 3-4 years while keeping the rest in checking/savings accounts that provide other forms of returns beyond the infinitesimal interest - specifically, tax-exempt frequent flyer miles that help us do some globe-trotting in business class and such. No surprise that I'm as much a Flyertalk junkie as I'm a TMC one!

Perhaps in a new thread, but do share! Tesla has their biggest events back home, so I'll be needing some miles