Jim Chanos, a famous short seller known for his Enron short (and who's also shorting Tesla), often refers to the book The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse by Marianne Jennings [1] when talking about identifying financial frauds. Here's a brief summary of it [2]. It's eerie how many apply to Elon Musk and Tesla.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FPVKVA/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FPVKVA/</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resources/seven-signs-of-ethical-collapse/" rel="nofollow">https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resou...</a>
> if one then assumes that Tesla will be able to miraculously achieve a 12% net margin per car (more than Audi does for its A4 series or BMW<p>Given that the "Add Enhanced Autopilot" and "Full self-driving capability" features are basically a $9k software update, I think the Model 3 is going to have some interesting margins once they scale up production.
Harsh truths here.<p>>... As long as 1) wealthy consumers in western nations but also China are eager to seek indulgence by way of green-washing and, 2) are in search of a Steve Jobs replacement persona onto which they can project their hopes for a gleaming future and, 3) are disillusioned with the establishment and its leaders, the company will likely succeed to raise cash again.<p>> The Tesla narrative is based on an illusion, a contradictio in adjecto - the promise that humankind can shop and consume itself into a sustainable future. However, even a million Teslas on the world’s roads will not impact the environment for better or worse. It is a systemic issue. ...Sustainability and promoting the purchase of raw-material consuming heavyweight products are mutually exclusive.
"And then, as long as 1) wealthy consumers in western nations but also China are eager to seek indulgence by way of green-washing and, 2) are in search of a Steve Jobs replacement persona onto which they can project their hopes for a gleaming future and, 3) are disillusioned with the establishment and its leaders, the company will likely succeed to raise cash again."
Securities news outlets that feed on your euphoria and insecurity:<p>- Investor Daily<p>- Seeking Alpha<p>- The Motley Fool<p>- Amigo Bulls<p>- Jim Cramer<p>- Zero Hedge [edit: adding this. I'm sure there are a bunch more]<p>They are SEO mills.