Tesla Passes Ford in Market Value as Investors Bet on the Future

[Zorro]

The record pace of auto sales in the United States is slowing down, leaving investors increasingly bearish on auto stocks.

But there is one exception. Tesla, the electric-vehicle upstart, continues to surge.

On Monday, Tesla surpassed Ford Motor in market value for the first time and moved within striking distance of General Motors, starkly illustrating the growing gap in investors’ optimism over its future versus the prospects for the traditional carmakers from Detroit.

While G.M. and Ford may have strong profits and healthy balance sheets, Tesla offers something Wall Street loves much more: the potential for dramatic growth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/03/business/tesla-ford-general-motors-stock-market.html

[MineralMan]

1. Hmm...Elon Musk...

I know one thing he's very good at, and he's been very successful at doing it.

How long will that success continue? Time will tell.

[CajunBlazer]

2. Elon Musk is and entrepreneur with a progressive conscious

Last edited Wed Apr 5, 2017, 12:07 PM - Edit history (1)

And I believe in him enough to plop down $1,000 to order a Tesla Model 3 without knowing what it would look like or what the features would be. And the car will probably won't not even be delivered late until 2018.

[Tikki]

5. The Tesla has definitely arrived in my part of So Cal. We see them everywhere.

My son is on the Model 3 list, also.

The whole family is truly excited about this vehicle.


Tikki

[CajunBlazer]

7. I can't wait to get my Model 3

Power and style without making the petroleum companies rich.

My ultimate objective is to equip my home for solar power along with with Tesla storage batteries so that neither my house nor my car leave a carbon footprint.

[Orsino]

3. Investors are betting on short- and/or long-term returns.

They may be right to bet on Tesla, but stock price is more a guide to how investors choose to steal from us than an endorsement of a particular future.

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. What?

but stock price is more a guide to how investors choose to steal from us than an endorsement of a particular future.

I happen to own a few shares of Tesla and I am REALLY curious how doing so is stealing from anyone.

And FWIW, the price of a share of stock is an indication of how profitable investors feel a company will be in the future. That's all.

[CajunBlazer]

6. That's simply ridiculous!

I own 800 shares of Tesla and I am not "stealing" from anyone. Yes, my shares or worth considerably more than when I bought them, but only because I took a risk and bought them when the prospects of Tesla were far less secure. The fact that someone else is now willing to take a risk and pay far more than I did is not stealing from them at all. And keep in mind that the Tesla success is not yet written in stone; the company may yet be a failure. I don't think that will happen, but it is possible, so I am again taking a risk by not selling today. In the future I will either be rewarded for taking that risk, or I will pay for it. That's how the game is played, no risk - no reward. (And by the way, those who shorted Tesla and thus bet against the company are having their asses handed to them right now.)

In addition, Tesla is not just any company. Tesla a company in that a progressive can be proud to invest in. Not only is Tesla paving the way to get gas and diesel burning vehicles off of the road, but it is also the leader promoting clean energy with it acquisition of Solar City and its storage battery line of business. Tesla is now in the business of using solar to make each of our individual homes and businesses independent of electrical companies which burn coal and other polluting fuels to generate electric power. Their storage batteries which can be used to store electricity generated during non peak hours to be used when needed will make additions to existing power plants unnecessary. Based on the comments I see on discussion boards discussing the stock, most long investors are progressives like me and those shorting the stock are selfish people just out to make a buck.

Maybe your problem is that you don't like our capitalist system. Well here's news for you - get over it. Our capitalist system is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Our job as progressives is to insure that it works for the benefit of all of us and to further insure that regulations are in place to remove those aspects of pure capitalism which work to the detriment of all but a chosen few.