ELON MUSK FINISHED testifying last week in the securities-fraud lawsuit against him, but the trial is still going on, but nobody seemed to write much about it after Musk stopped talking. In other news, a Tesla reportedly “spontaneously combusted” on Highway 50 in Sacramento, and Ford followed Tesla’s lead in cutting the prices of its Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles.
Business Insider described the business implications of the price reductions for Ford and Tesla (TSLA on the Nasdaq):
Neither move made much sense, according to Bank of America, though Tesla still holds a near-term advantage, the bank analysts said.
“The logic appears odd to us,” strategists wrote in a Tuesday note. “Both TSLA and Ford are citing demand that exceeds supply, which means that cutting prices would be a direct hit to the bottom line today and unnecessarily degrades future earnings power.”
Who needs sense or logic? Tesla announced last week that its profits were up 12 percent in the fourth quarter. And its once-plunging stock continued to go up, now more vigorously than before. Last Tuesday, TSLA closed at $143.89. Today, it closed at $173.22. Gautam Adani, once on Musk’s heels for the title of world’s second-richest person, is having a terrible 2023, and has plunged to No. 11 on the leaderboard. The cars may be inflammable; the man is indestructible.
The $29.33 that a share of TSLA gained since last Tuesday would have been enough to buy any of the following:
• Twelve 4 oz. bottles of El Yucateco green habanero hot sauce
• A sterling silver ring set with cubic zirconia, for protection against the Evil Eye
• A variable valve timing solenoid filter for a Honda Accord (1998–2002 model years)
• An autographed mesh-back adjustable-size Carolina Mudcats baseball cap (“unsure who the signature is from”)
• A refurbished 1980s super-slim Seiko quartz watch (men’s)
• 400 2 gram packets of stevia leaf and monk fruit sweetener
• 60 pounds of white concrete countertop mix (minimum order 480 pounds)
• An 8-inch induction-ready stainless steel and aluminum frying pan
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