Please Watch My New YouTube video: Tesla’s headaches are causing real pain at GM and Ford

Please Watch My New YouTube video: Tesla’s headaches are causing real pain at GM and Ford

Today’s Trend of the Week video is Bad News from Tesla is even worse news for other electric vehicle companies. On January 24, after the close, Tesla announced a slight miss on their earnings report. Guidance was rather sparse but grim. Sales grew at about 38% in 2023, well below the 50% target that Tesla regularly touts. The 2024 guidance is even below that, (Wall Street estimates 24%). While this isn’t great for Tesla, it’s much worse for companies like Ford, GM and Volkswagen who are trying to figure out how much to spend and when to build market share for electric vehicles. The companies have been using estimates based on Tesla likely prices and profit margins in order to build their own projectors for their own profitability in  electric vehicles. Those estimates, thanks to recent guidance from Tesla, appear to badly outdated, especially if Tesla is considering cutting prices again. Now companies like GM and Ford will have to decide how much pain, and for how long, they’re willing to take in order to get into this market.

U.S. electric vehicle sales up 50% year over year in the third quarter, but Tesla loses market share

U.S. electric vehicle sales up 50% year over year in the third quarter, but Tesla loses market share

In the third quarter electric vehicle sales in the United States jumped to more than 300,000 for the first time, Cox Automotive reported today. Electric vehicle sales were up 50% year over year in the quarter. And electric vehicles made up 7.9% of total industry sales. It’s not surprising that as vehicle sales volumes have surged, market leader Tesla (TSLA) has lost market share.

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week This is What Deflation Looks Like

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week This is What Deflation Looks Like

Today’s Trend of the Week is This is What Deflation Looks Like. Last week, Ford announced it’s cutting the price of the Ford F-150 electric truck, the F-150 Lightning, by nearly $10,000. The prices had gone up when supplies were low, but now, Ford says that they’ve cut production costs, so they’re able to cut prices. Maybe. That’s one explanation anyway. But, the news came as Tesla’s long-awaited truck appears to be finally hitting the market (sometime this year.) There is an over-supply of electric vehicles in general as more and more car makers have pivoted to the EV, and the sector hasn’t grown as fast as the production. In order to keep market share in a young-fast growing industry, companies, like Ford, will cut prices. This is as an early sign of a potential deflationary period. The timing of a transition from an inflationary environment to a deflationary environment will depend largely on global climate change. A lot of money will have to be spent on building, or rebuilding infrastructure, which could stress supply, putting the brakes on deflation. Keep an eye out for my special report called, Investing in Global Climate Catastrophe for more on inflation, deflation and interest rates. For now, the Ford announcement gives us the first hint of deflation in a critical sector of the global economy.

It’s too soon to buy Tesla–stock drops another 12% on delivery “miss”

It’s too soon to buy Tesla–stock drops another 12% on delivery “miss”

Tesla (TSLA) can’t win for winning. On Monday, while U.S. markets were, fortunately, closed, the company reported record quarterly deliveries for the fourth quarter of 2022 of 405,278 cars. Unfortunately, Tesla had convinced Wall Street to look for delivery of 420,7690 cars. So even record deliveries amount to a miss. For a third straight quarter, Tesla’s deliveries missed company and Wall Street projections. The company saw deliveries rise 40% in 2022, but that too was short of the 50% growth targeted by the company. As of the close today, January 3, Tesla shares were down 12.24%

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Ford Drops a Bombshell on the Market

Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Ford Drops a Bombshell on the Market

My one-hundred-and-seventy-eighth YouTube video: “Ford Drops a Bombshell on the Market” went up today. Ford (NYSE: F) came out on Monday with a pre-announcement on third-quarter earnings that was pretty grim – not just for them, but for the market and global economy as a whole. Instead of Ford’s expected $3 billion in operating profits for the third quarter, the pre-announcement stated it will actually be closer to $1.4 -1.7 billion. This of course caused the stock to plunge by 9.18% by 11 am the following day. The reason the earnings were so disappointing is a continuing supply chain problem that has left them with 40,000-50,000 “uncompleted cars” awaiting computer chips. This is why I think it represents a larger problem within the global economy: supply chain issues and inflationary costs cutting into profit margins.

Glitches and opportunities abound in the green initiatives of the Inflation Reduction Act–here’s how to profit from them (Part 1 electric vehicles and battery minerals)

Glitches and opportunities abound in the green initiatives of the Inflation Reduction Act–here’s how to profit from them (Part 1 electric vehicles and battery minerals)

I think it’s time to go from the general amazement stage to an examination of what companies–and stocks–are actually going to be winners because of the Inflation Reduction Act. (And I say that not only because some of these early winners have started to show some weakness–profit taking perhaps. But also I would pay attention to these near-term trends. EVgo, for example, fell to $10.74 a share on August 17 from $12.02 on August 16. That’s a 10.6% tumble.) The bill as finally passed is a masterpiece of compromises and add-ons that mean that many of the top line dollars won’t wind up where recent headlines have suggested. My take?

Ford shares pop on EV/gas-powered split but no spin off–adding Ford to my Millennial Portfolio

Ford shares pop on EV/gas-powered split but no spin off–adding Ford to my Millennial Portfolio

Shares of Ford Motor (F) were up 7.01% as of noon on Wednesday, March 2, on news that the company would reorganize its auto operations into two distinct businesses—one that makes its gasoline-powered vehicles and and another that produces electric vehicles. But, the company said, it has no plans at the moment to spin off the electric vehicle business.

Flight to safety means selling anything today

Flight to safety means selling anything today

With Russian troops laying siege to Ukraine’s two largest cities, I certainly don’t blame financial markets for a high degree of anxiety. After all investors and traders are also looking at the consequences of massive sanctions piled on Russian banks including the country’s central bank, disruptions of the global grain trade, and energy shortages here, there, and everywhere. The selling today is fundamentally different from yesterday’s (as well as being greater). Some of the selling is an attempt to gain shelter from the Russia war and sanctions storm. Airlines stocks, which will take a hit from higher prices for jet fuel and any drop in the appetite for flying, were down with American Airlines (AL) off 5.57% and United Airlines (UAL) lower by 5.74%. Some of the selling seems a reasonable guess at where there might be problems. U.S. banks are down heavily even though various experts say they have little or no Russia exposure. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) was down 3.77% and Bank of America (BAC) was off 3.91%. But some of the selling is just selling, either to reduce risk or to raise cash, without any specific connection to Russia and the Russia sanctions. Tesla (TSLA) was down 0.70% at the close as and construction aggregate producer Vulcan Materials (VMC) was significantly lower by 3.86%. Fewer states will repave their roads because of the sanctions on Russia’s central bank?