Hot Features
Premium
Trade like a pro: Leverage real-time discussions and market-moving ideas to outperform.
Nikola Tesla was a genius. He was, arguably, much smarter than his competitor, Thomas Edison. Edison, however was much more shrewd in terms of business acumen. The man who leads the namesake company of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has the genius of Mr. Tesla and the business acumen of Mr. Edison combined. His name is Elon Musk, he has a vision, and he knows how to turn that vision into reality.
Regrettably, most business leaders do not seem to possess the j’ ne c’est qua of Mr. Musk. Assuming most leaders see the big picture, Elon Musk sees a much bigger picture. He sees it in a way that he can use it. That is exactly what he did yesterday.
The Power of a Tweet
Forgive me if I am wrong, but I am willing to posit that most CEOs eschew social media, failing to recognize it as . . . well . . . anything more than social. Musk understands it as a medium for reaching the masses. He understands its power in the present and in the future.
That is why the share price of Tesla Motors – which has been in decline since September 2014 – jumped as much as 3.9% yesterday almost immediately following a tweet by the CEO himself. Keep in mind that Tesla shares were continuing to decline during the day until Musk tweeted this:
Major new Tesla product line — not a car — will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2015
The Power of a 21-word Tweet
If you are an investor or a market observer, you tend to think in terms of percent of increase or price per share. If you are Elon Musk, you think in terms of a market cap increase in excess of $800 million. Because of a tweet. No matter who you are, you should recognize that the volume of shares traded was nearly double the 90-day average and that the extraordinary trading volume coincided with the spike in price, and almost immediately followed the historic tweet.
Did I mention that Elon Musk is a genius?
The Staying Power of a Tweet
What amazes me the most is that no one knows what the new product line is! Yet, on the sheer credibility of an extraordinary man who is CEO of this incredible company, he was able, single-handedly, to stop the decline of Tesla’s share price and turn the tide.
But it did not stop yesterday afternoon. Today Tesla shares are up another percentage point at $192.80 after yesterday’s close at $190.57. Speculation is rampant over what the new product line is. Regardless of what it is, there is an air of investor confidence that is remarkable considering the lack of detail.
Don’t miss my point. I don’t care about the lack of detail. My confidence is in Elon Musk. Investors apparently feel the same. Even though it was only a tweet.
Lou Gutheil does not hold any interest in Tesla or any other Elon Musk company. Although he wishes he did.
