Wed, Dec 20, 2023|Whitney Tilson

Where I'm discussing special topics of interest; Recent articles on China; My latest missive to my Tesla e-mail list

In addition to this e-mail – my free investing daily, which goes out to more than 100,000 readers – I have almost two dozen other smaller, personal e-mail lists that are separate from Stansberry Research...

I discussed 10 of these lists in my July 19 e-mail (and I included links to subscribe to each): short selling, Elon Musk/Tesla (TSLA), China, Ukraine, Africa, education reform, weight-loss drugs, singles, fitness/adventure sports, and tennis.

Since then, I have added one more on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and antisemitism at my alma mater, Harvard, and elsewhere, which you can sign up for by sending a blank e-mail to: israel-subscribe@mailer.kasecapital.com.

Keep in mind that unlike this e-mail, which I try to keep free of politics, my newest list is highly political (inevitably, I would argue)... though I try to fairly present both sides.

Additionally, here are six articles I recently sent to my China e-mail list (to join, send a blank e-mail to: china-subscribe@mailer.kasecapital.com):

And here's one that I'll soon send to my weight-loss drug list: The weight loss drug boom isn't over yet – here's what to expect in the year ahead.

Lastly, below are excerpts from what I sent on Monday to my Musk/Tesla e-mail list – which, with 4,385 readers, is one of my largest personal lists (you can join it by sending a blank e-mail to: tsla-subscribe@mailer.kasecapital.com).

I try to be fair to Musk. As I have written many times, humanity owes him a debt of gratitude. But the news flow about him has been quite negative recently, which is reflected in the e-mail I sent out on Monday – so at the top I wrote: "TRIGGER WARNING: MUSK FANBOYS SHOULD SKIP TO ITEMS 5 & 6."

1) Musk is very committed to free speech, which explains his controversial decision to invite Alex Jones back on X, formerly Twitter. Here's Rolling Stone with the story: The Curious Alliance of Alex Jones and Elon Musk. Excerpt:

The stage was set for the long game: Musk drew praise from Jones and InfoWars whenever he triggered the libs, but also the occasional reminder that he had not proven himself a committed ally to their movement. Over the course of 2023, as Musk's erratic behavior, dabbling in harmful misinformation, and squabbles with anti-extremism watchdogs led to an advertiser exodus from Twitter, he began to sound more radicalized and in closer alignment with Jones' brand of blustery defiance...

After digging himself into a hole with his constant proclamations of X as a no-holds-barred public square, he may not have had much of a choice. Musk actually admitted that Jones would be "bad for X financially" but stuck to the same rhetoric, piously tweeting that "principles matter more than money."

He can therefore bask in (momentary) adulation from the far right for abandoning his earlier-stated principles. Jones, a man given to railing against "elites," is subverting his own to heap gratitude upon the richest man alive – this despite the fact that his online footprint remains much smaller than it was before the flurry of bans he received across all his channels in 2018.

I wish Musk was more consistent with free speech on X, as he has de-platformed all sorts of people for exercising free speech that he didn't like – or, in NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway's case, for refusing to accept his invitation to meet with him.

Musk is a brilliant entrepreneur and engineer... but he can also be a thin-skinned hypocrite.

2) Musk is also extremely reckless when it comes to the safety of those who work in his factories as well as drive his cars.

I can't believe it took so long, but regulators finally forced Tesla to stop the deceit about the capabilities of what Musk labels "full self-driving," which is nothing of the sort – it's merely decent Level 2 driver assist. Hence a recall to make Tesla do what other automakers do with their similar technology: make sure drivers are paying attention.

Here's Rolling Stone with more details: Elon Musk's Big Lie About Tesla Is Finally Exposed. Excerpt:

If you read the official notice for Tesla's recall of more than 2 million vehicles equipped with Autopilot, the thing that jumps out is that it's not really about a defect in the Autopilot technology itself. At least not in the sense that the system's cameras are breaking, or its software is seeing red lights as green lights, or its AI is making disturbing choices in "trolley problem" exercises or anything like that. The problem, strangely enough, has everything to do with humans...

In short, when the human stops paying attention it's as big a problem as if a camera or radar sensor became disconnected from the computer running the code. Which makes perfect sense when you read even deeper into Tesla's fine print, and find that the owner bears all legal responsibility for everything the system does, ever. By telling its customers its cars are almost self-driving and designing them without guardrails, Tesla induces inattention only to blame the victim.

3) In a new segment, comedian John Oliver rehashes a lot of critiques against Musk – mainly that nobody should have this much power: Elon Musk: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Here's a Guardian article about it: John Oliver on Elon Musk's messiah complex: 'The least surprising thing on Earth.' Excerpt:

"History is littered with titans of business who were s---ty or broken people, from Thomas Edison to Henry Ford to Steve Jobs," Oliver said. "The difference is, by and large, they didn't open up their brain to have the whole world have a constant look inside. But Elon does, and the glimpses we get can be terrifying"...

"The problem isn't just the optics of having someone as erratic as Elon in charge of half the world's satellites," said Oliver. "His opinion can change the shape of world events," such as when Starlink provided internet access via satellite to Ukrainian troops after the Russian invasion...

"The fact is, whether we like it or not – and the answer is absolutely not – a huge number of very important things going forward are going to depend on how Elon is feeling, which is a terrifying thing to say about anyone but especially this guy," he said.

4) I just finished listening to this new book, Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History, which perfectly captures Musk and his erratic behavior. Here's the line that summarizes it: "Elon Musk didn't break Twitter. Twitter broke Elon Musk"... and here's an excerpt of the book description on Amazon:

Breaking Twitter takes readers inside the darkly comic battle between one of the most intriguing, polarizing, influential men of our time – Elon Musk – and the company that represents our culture's dearest hope for a shared global conversation.

From employee accounts within Twitter headquarters to the mission-driven team Musk surrounded himself with, this is the full story from all sides. Can Musk miraculously succeed or will he spectacularly fail? What will that mean to the global town hall that is Twitter? What, really, is Elon's end goal? The whole world is watching. Breaking Twitter will provide ringside seats.

5) This does indeed smell like regulatory overreach and/or retaliation:

6) While adoption of electric vehicles ("EVs") has slowed, I think this is a hiccup and that EV adoption here and around the world is still on the steep part of the S-curve. Here's a recent story from the Wall Street Journal about this: Car Dealers on Why Some Customers Hesitate With EVs. Excerpt:

While EVs remain a small but rapidly expanding part of the new-car market, the pace of growth has slowed this year. Electric-vehicle sales increased 48% in the first 11 months, compared with a 69% jump during the same period in 2022, according to Motor Intelligence. Sales remain concentrated in a few states, with California accounting for the largest chunk, S&P Global Mobility data found.

The cooling growth has raised broader questions in the industry about whether car companies face a temporary hurdle or a longer-term demand challenge. Automakers have invested billions of dollars to bring more EV models to the market, and many analysts and car executives say they remain optimistic that sales will continue to expand.

Again, if you're interested, you can sign up for my Musk/Tesla e-mail list by sending a blank e-mail to: tsla-subscribe@mailer.kasecapital.com.

Best regards,

Whitney

P.S. I welcome your feedback – send me an e-mail by clicking here.

P.P.S. In case you missed it, you still have time to watch a special year-end broadcast from my friend – and Stansberry Research founder – Porter Stansberry...

Porter has predicted some big events in the markets – including the 1998 emerging market crisis and the 2007 financial crisis. Now, he's back to share one of the most important messages of his 25-year career. This broadcast is only available until 10 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow, so make sure you tune in before it goes offline – you can watch it right here.