Investing Ideas

Tesla Brisk At Giga Shanghai, Musk Offloads More Shares

Notwithstanding the broader market rally, electric vehicle stocks closed the week ending Aug. 12 on a mixed note.

Market leader Tesla, Inc. TSLA picked up momentum in the run-up to its stock split, which is set to take effect on Aug. 25. The week also witnessed earnings releases from a few companies in the space.

Musk Kicks Off Week By Selling Shares: After suggesting in late April that further Tesla stock selling is not planned, CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday disclosed in multiple filings that he sold $6.85 billion worth of Tesla shares. He later clarified on Twitter that this was a preemptive move to avoid fire sales of stock in the “hopefully unlikely event” of the Twitter, inc. TWTR deal being enforced.

Separately, tidings from Tesla’s Giga Shanghai continue to be positive. The company’s factory in China seems to be up and running after the disruptions seen in April amid the COVID resurgence and the factory closure in July for facility upgrades. Reports suggest Model Y production capacity increased to over 50,000 per month in July and is on track to accelerate to 60,000 per month in the coming weeks.

A video shared by a YouTuber showed a huge batch of Teslas numbering about 9,000 was waiting at the Shanghai South Port Terminal to be exported. This should encourage investors, as Musk said this week that meeting delivery targets requires an insane amount of work.

U.S. Economy

Student Loan Forgiveness in Hands of "Understaffed and Overcommitted" Agency

The implementation of President Biden's widespread, income-targeted student loan forgiveness is shaping up to be a bureaucratic challenge for the U.S. Department of Education.

International

Once High-Flying Chinese Tech Giants Now Look to Scale Back Costs

Alibaba and Tencent executives have been focusing on cutting costs across the business from headcount to exiting non-core businesses.

U.S. Economy

Fed Minutes Show More Rate Hikes Coming, but Pace Could Slow

According to the minutes of their July 26-27 policy meeting