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I hear ya Jack! Not me Barb! I am talking a start up, Tesla, that I invested in after threatening that when they finally go public. Took two years after they put their first EV, the roadster into actual production they finally did, and I did. You will notice that since Tesla is considered green, and got a tenth of the DOE money that Ford got, and 1/3 of what Nissan got for advanced vehicle research, IMHO did lots more as far as concrete results and paid back their loan, they are under attack by folks that have an ax to grind about other unrelated programs they lump together as green, and therefore the enemy. I am talking about my investment that I am still in on. Cindona, I wasn't being sarcastic. I thought you were throwing out how silly some anti anything they think is green were with that article. I thought you were giving me something to laugh at. If you were serious and believed that article then my apology for making fun of your beliefs. I also respect druids and wiccans along with the big four. I don't do politics, and I was born at night, but it wasn't last night. Now that was tongue in cheek.

Good morning Cindona! No fits here and no diversion. Two things first. I already told you that my mention of Solyndra was part of a para I deleted but missed the opening sentence. But sure have it your way, my post had an error. Second thing. You new list makes much more sense. But you are still trying to say faltering about unspecified others with no falter facts mentioned. The chapter 11 filings are definitely faltering, no doubt, but overgeneralizations in place of facts seem to be the preferred article choice for you. A good example is the Tesla article you linked to. I'm sorry but I have to agree with the majority of the comments below the article. For those who missed it, it claims Tesla paying back its loan early cost the government more than the loss Solyndra cost us. Reading the comments at the bottom yields many that laugh at the article, but the one I liked best was from "Richard" who wrote: "Does Slate not understand logic or even basic math? Solyndra: $528 million down the drain. Tesla: (($465 Million+ Interest (repaid early))+Interest on Future Profits Loss on Solyndra << Profit on Tesla Who you got writing article over there? A bunch of poop throwing monkeys?" Thanks for the morning funny. You did mean to be funny right?

Thanks Barb, We're still in!

Jack, TWRs are supposed to be on track for a demo in about ten years or sooner. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, which has his billions and Warren Buffet's Billions in it is backing it. I may not live to see them run all over. But I am sure I will see one start to provide power. I do believe I will see the oil industry start a serious implosion/crash as the reality of EVs and natural gas fired electrical generating plants and solar installs from companies like Elon Musk's other public venture Solar City which just got Goldman Sachs backing for financing to the tune of 500 million. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130516-706559.html

Calm as can be. Wow! You completely sidestepped answering my main question. What is meant as faltering by them, and you. There are lots of companies laying off workers and downsizing today. Is IBM faltering because they are laying off workers right now too? I am truly interested in finding out why all are faltering but the bankrupt ones filing chapter 11 are they? Is that like GM and Chrysler did in 2008? They are still here. So please do find the wording for faltering, and what filing chapter 11 means to you? The ones that went completely under like Solyndra are held up as the poster children of the waste of government spending but no mention of the spending to bail out the nation's biggest "too big to fail financial institutions" is made or even referenced. So once more could you give the research on why each are called faltering. My goodness the original article was so full of holes and gross errors in guessing that they actually had a Government laboratory on the list. They had to retract silly stuff and correct it like these: CORRECTION: Figures for four companies have been updated: Beacon Power received $43 million from the U.S. government, not $69 million as originally reported. Azure Dynamics received $5.4 million from the federal government, not $120 million as originally reported. Compact Power Inc. received $151 million as part of the stimulus, not $150 million as originally reported. Willard and Kelsey Solar Group received $700,981 in government funding, not $6 million as originally reported. The following companies have been removed from the original list: AES’s subsidiary Eastern Energy, LSP Energy, Schneider Electric, and Uni-Solar did not receive government-backed loans, based on additional research. The National Renewable Energy Lab did received $200 million in stimulus funding, but it is a government laboratory. I did miss that Solyndra reference on editing the post from a digression I decided to remove as not really on topic explaining the different loan categories as they are missed a lot. You will note all of my posts are edited immediately because for some reason I see most, not all, I missed, on seeing the different font. No comment on the results from a half a billion loan to Tesla with spectacular to me and others results, and the disappointing, at least to me, results from Ford and Nissan with three to ten times what Tesla borrowed and paid back? Don't you think that as a fiscal conservative the companies posting larger profits should pay back as soon or sooner than a start up? I would demand it of Ford and Nissan were I looking for budget recovery from Gov't loans in the same category and others. I am really looking for that breakdown Cindona. And thanks for the sources all copying the same article, some after the original was edited for embarrassing errors. Personally I doubt the companies called faltering are all faltering, or even most. But without the research and sources, I'm from Missouri. And now you know about the three different industries that DOE invested in, and that the applications for the loans in the ATVM program were closed in December of 2008 and had nothing to do with the companies on your list. You see, I have no interest in investing in any solar production company trying to compete with the last three year dump of panels by the Chinese bringing prices down to 1/10th to 1/20thj of what they were. So define faltering. Let me know if you think the other two surviving companies that borrowed with Tesla did anything nearly as beneficial to our country in jobs, tech, and just plain innovation. That is my American way! Oh and BTW. Too late. I took all my original investment out plus $5k so no matter what happens I already made my money from Tesla. The much larger amount for now is still in, and will be for a year or ten. We will see. But I am not greedy, and the advice to take a bit off the table was sound. So I took as little as I could and still have plenty in play for the next rise to 200 a share maybe 5 or 600 like Google and Apple. I remember folks bailing on Apple as it could go no higher they thought at $55.00. I have learned that there is more hype in the investment circles and no one who can guarantee a profit, than I realized. When I first started posting here I thought to learn some about stocks because I was fed up with not making anything on savings. Several hundred percent is acceptable using my crazy research and facts and background of the players approiach regardless of how many said I was wrong, should game the system by shorting it??? The more I read investment articles, the more I like real novels where the authors admit it is all fiction and that any similarity to actual persons or events is coincidental.

Yay here too. Cindona, where on earth did you get that list? You obviously have your programs and presidents mixed up. And if you would please explain how you define faltering, and why you include whatever definition of faltering in a list of failures. Let's stick to fact, not conjecture shall we? I remember not too long ago when Tesla was using all of its assets to build its factory and was called faltering because all monies went into the factory, and now into the Model X and building up the 90 second battery swap infrastructure. Your list just looks like a list of loans that you characterized as faltering or failing. First your program mix up. The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing was proposed by Bush, the guidelines for awarding the loans and the loan rules were done as he wanted and signed into law Sept. 2008. The application process was closed before 2009. There were only three applications immediately approved. Excerpt: "President Bush signed the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVM) into life last year, but for the past 8 months, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has sat on the money, carefully evaluating applications to see which companies would make the best use of the funds. Today the first announcements of disbursement were made from Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The three recipients - Ford, Nissan and Tesla - will be getting a total of about $8 billion in loans to help fund the development of advanced technology fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford will get $5.9 billion of those funds, while Nissan will get $1.6 billion and Tesla will get $465 million, reports the AP." Source, MotorAuthority http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1033557_u-s-doe-announces-8-billion-in-loans-for-fuel-efficient-vehicles-at-ford-nissan-and-tesla The 2008 MotorAuthority article announcing the ATVM program signing is here: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1022946_25-billion-auto-industry-loan-package-approved-by-president-bush The ATVM was not available to a couple of really faltering companies at the time, really faltering by my standards is when Chapter 11 is declared as Chrysler and GM had declared that year. The rest of the ATVM story and mention of Chrysler and GM is here from AutoBlog. http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/23/ford-nissan-tesla-all-big-winners-in-doe-advanced-technology-l/ You will note that the auto and transportation industries do not report on energy production and generation stories because they don't mix up industries making apple to orange comparisons, as you did bringing up that cross industries list as "proof" that more than the few ATVM loan failures I mentioned occurred. But let's look at those figures: Ford got $5.9 billion = Focus Electric-90 mile range or less, mediocre acceleration, no national charging effort, disappointing sales, Loan not paid back . Nissan $1.6 billion = Leaf -75 mile range, mediocre acceleration, no national charger install effort, disappointing sales. Loan not paid back. Tesla $512 million= Model S-200 - 300 mile range,super acceleration, first model year has waiting list, thus far sold out. Loan paid back nine years early! So look at those results for the amount loaned. Does that make Ford and Nissan faltering? Because unless they do much better, with all that extra money they haven't been able to pay back, and produce a competitive car in range, do someting about the charging infrastructure as Tesla already has started big, not to mention 90 second battery charging ( http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000177598&__source=yahoo%7Cheadline%7Cquote%7Cvideo%7C&par=yahoo ) So let's stick to the DOE ATVM program unless you want to start your analysis of which green energy generation company will be a winner to invest in for us, as I did with which green Car company to invest in like I did with Tesla. You never heard a peep out of me about Fiskar, or any other hybrid because that is what Fiskar is, not an EV. If I wanted a hybrid I'd get the Prius. In almost 14 years no one has competed with that hybrid with their own really. I look forward to your breakdown of ATVM loans, and what use was made of the money. If you want to discuss energy generation and production DOE loans which is a completely different program and industry, please do. I look forward to your list of failed companies and your accurate analysis of the faltering one/s you like, their CEO/s, and when you invest in it? At least separate your list into failed or not, and post your source. It might be interesting. Don't be so quick to judge Presidents. I personally applaud Bush's ATVM program! If you DO want to engage me in energy production I will give you advance info on my pick. TWRs or Traveling Wave Reactors. Small, safe, and burn up the nasty spent rods we are storing now with much less maintenance.

Elon Musk announced that they would have a network of their Supercharger solar powered charging stations that will span from L.A. to New York by the end of this year in addition to about 28 already installed in California and other major Tesla store locations. The supercharger stations are solar powered, and will recharge a Tesla Model S in 20 to 30 mins to 50% charge. Which means with today's Tesla you take a 30 minute break every 150 miles or two - three hours of driving depending on traffic and weather. So with no exaggeration you will be able to drive from New York to L.A. free. Remember? Tesla's refuel/charge for free at all Supercharger stations. Making a cross country trip cheaper to drive than fly again for the first time in decades. Folks, this is not forward thinking. They are done with R&D and expanding rapidly to support the current 20k cars being produced this year and the expanded production with the newer and cheaper models coming out in 2014 - 2015. The pic below is how they look not a rendering of a maybe. Howe can they do this you ask? Well Musk the CEO and majority stockholder in Tesla is an actual top dog rocket scientist and Physicist/engineer. Oh, and he owns a majority interest in his own solar installation company Solar City, in addition to outright owning Space X that was the first successful private commercial rocket to dock with the ISS. (International Space Station) Musk also announced that while they initially predicted total sales worldwide to be 20k units this year, that they are selling that many in the U.S. alone! Tesla hit a high then seems to have settled at over 100 now at 104. Tesla longs like me are accustomed to these plateaus. Once reached they rarely go below them again for more than a day. Tesla already has California equipped with Supercharger stations and they look just like the photo above. Tesla also paid off their Government loan in full last week. Ford and Nissan got billions in the same loan program, but Tesla's loan was only 512 million or so. That loan program was a success with all but two major failures, Solyndra and now Fisker, but Fisker may be resurrected by private investors and may yet live to pay off their loan and add to the choice in hybrids, because they are not an all electric EV like Tesla. (edited: typed GM, meant Ford)

Cindona, When Tesla was down you asked me about it. It closed at $110.33 and went to $111.80 after hours today. Whatcha think? The short squeeze ratchets up. I hope none of my friends here shorted it. I never doubted, and drops were just buying opportunities. The fourth US car company has arrived and EVs are here to stay! Next be ready for those charging station surprise announcements soon, as well as 500 mile or more ranges.

Wow! Thanks Russ! I made a lot but no fortune! Musk also announced that there will be Model S sedans at half the price within 4-5 years. That in addition to the expected announcement of 500 or 100 mile ranges next. We know at least 500 but that announcement got stopped because of a breakthrough of some sort. I bet he announces Metal Air battery tech but we will see in the next month. I also expect him to announce a vastly larger free charging system already across the US on at least one East-West Coast to Coast route, and one North-South on each Coast within the next six months. This is happening. A by product will be a faster than expected decrease in demand for gasoline and diesel in the private markets. In turn that should drop the price for RV fuels. If not then we are being taken for another ride, and know what? I know a lot of folks that will believe their press. Musk is already the enemy of the anti Obama movement. You know the folks who are for business and enterprise as long as it does not create competition for them? Now I will say another thing many here will not believe and chalk up top my being a greenie which I am not! I am a greedy and tired of 4 dollar fuels from oil that are artificially priced.

Wow! Thanks Russ. No, I had not read it but I know how he feels. We feel the same way about Tesla. Very much did the same except I used money other than main funds. Lots of us out there helping a little each to help make it happen.

I hope somebody read my post #419 and read the link I posted there yesterday about Solar City getting financing from Goldman Sachs for installs. It was at 35 bucks after a 9% bump. Today when everybody else read it, it went from 35 to 45 a share. Like a dummy I missed the fact that I had my original investment with Tesla, plus $5k over that amount so I can say I made a profit regardless, and could have made over $10k overnight had I parked it there, instead of letting it sit as a cash balance overnight in my investment. I made a great decision to sell a small piece and keep most of my Tesla stock as it is stable at 90-91 now.

Here's a good article from Bloomberg from last Tuesday with the latest on pricing and leasing the Smart ED. http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2013-05-14/aEn2xcNwuqRE.html

Jack, I will test drive it and may not like it regardless of range. I understand it gets 107 mpge, but only 69-79 miles of range. I will also check out if that is a median or best stretch figure. My daily round trips are rarely more than 50-75 miles total. If Tesla tanks again between now and then I may be using the money to buy more stock. I am looking for real world reports before I get to actually buying. Gas EPA mileage estimates never were what I got. I am not committed. But I am in the market for another new car, and may just end up with a last gasser until the consumer priced Tesla comes along in three years or so. They are also talking buying the car for $17k or so and leasing the battery for $99 a month. Or the car can be leased for $199.00 total per month. Again, I am looking for immediate gratification and won't be at a job 8 hours a day with a possible outlet to charge while I work, it may not be the car for me. But it will be for many. I am also downsizing my truck. For the first time since early 1997 I will not have a Dodge/Cummins diesel truck. But I no longer tow, and a small weekender can be towed with a gas half ton. I really don't need the hauling capability past a short bed half ton anymore. And gas is still much cheaper.

OK I am playing with their money now and still own a lot of shares by my standards. This has not been an exercise, nor a play investment on paper. I have detailed all of my information and sources from 2011 when Cindona started this thread. I had no experience in investing in individual stocks. Still only have one. I wish we still had the posts here from 2005 because that was the only time in my life before Tesla that I was going to put 30k in Apple at $55 when they announced they were going to Intel chipsets and boards. So just knowing the company, and the technology and seeing where it would lead has twice overcome all the expertise in in vesting of all but those of us who saw it before anybody else did. That is not luck. I am staying in with my remaining majority of my shares with Tesla. I am not gloating. I saw it and told everyone here what would happen and when and it did. None of it was a secret. That it was executed so well and on time surprised a lot of folks. That I am excited anyway is no surprise to me either. I said that until I sold I did not make or lose money. I took out just enough to say I got my original investment and only an additional 25% more of it back to leave as many shares as possible in play, and will continue the fun ride with Elon and friends. I have almost the price of a Model S left in at today's close of 92. Then when it IPOs, SpaceX! Solar City never got me excited as Tesla or Space X, but it has already done well and now has financing for their installations. http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/16/investing/solar-city-goldman/index.html?source=yahoo_quote It would be beginners luck if I hadn't said the same thing in 2005 about Apple, even if I did chicken out. If I ever feel this strongly I will likely do it again. SpaceX is the only one right now that interests me and Musk retains ownership outright.

Wow! And I thought I did well? I am in some pretty exalted company. This very short article from the WSJ Market Watch. Who bought Tesla ahead of the massive short squeeze? http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/05/16/who-bought-tesla-ahead-of-the-massive-short-squeeze/

OK I had to play a bit but I figured out how many shares it would take to get back my original investment in Tesla, plus $5k profit. Man I got to keep 3/4ths of my shares in play! The articles are all saying that the Model S is the New Prius as that car had initial skepticism about price. But the high gas prices in 2003 caused the Prius to sell like hotcakes compared to the naysayers predictions of doom. Here is an article from the investing and market perspective from a guy who worked internally for Toyota in 2003 -2004 as a spreadsheet jockey in market research. He compares the initial market reaction to the Prius as an insider and how it accelerated through the next ten years to become a top ten seller in the US despite price. http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/consumer/articles/The-Tesla-Model-S-is-the/5/16/2013/id/49843?camp=syndication&medium=portals&from=yahoo I have driven the Model S, if one has not, or lumps it in with the Volt Hybrid or poor performance low range economy class cars, at full size sedan prices, like the Leaf, they have no clue. And until I drove it, honestly, neither did I! MY decision to sell a tiny block was in no way any worry on my part. My income is such that a tax credit would do m e no good unless I make a profit, and since I want a Smart Electric with the Tesla drivetrain/system, and can drive one in September when they arrive for sale in Dallas, I decided to take off enough for that and leave the bulk of my shares to ride to the top. I told you all that this was my first time buying an individual stock, as I do Funds for the pro managers at USAA for my savings and have gotten around 6% with them averaged out. Anyway, amateur that I am, I was astounded that my offer was snatched up within a second! As I made the change and then checked back to the original page and it was there before I could click! So what am I doing with it? At .3% interest in savings and all other not liquid, it will sit in my account ready in case I get a buy opportunity at a lower price. I have seen Tesla rise and drop 20 bucks in a week. If it does not drop and makes predicted 100-200 prices, then I will take that money and buy my Smart Electric for my first EV. But I will be first to admit a lot can change in four months. Space X might IPO. I have enough cash to do even more than I did originally with Tesla available now. I now understand the feeling of taking a big profit and the original investment off the table and still play with a lot of the house's money.

E-Sis! Yep got it but worked all day yesterday in the hot sun helping my son till his weeds under and redo his landscaping around his house in preparation for selling it in the fall. This morning was my morning to catch up on the five or six emails waiting for me to answer. But a related story. We were picking up topsoil and landscape timbers when we saw a Tesla Model S parked in front of a waffle house! The owner was in it and I tapped on the window and asked if I could look at it. He said yes and asked me to sit in the passenger seat. I was blubbering I think because I was so excited to actually experience one. I told him I was an investor in the company. He then asked something I never expected nor would ask. He asked me to drive it. I asked if he was serious. He said sure, as he had mentioned he was a chemistry professor at LSUS when we introduced ourselves, and I had mentioned I was an alumni as I went to school after I was active duty. He said he always liked to take special care of his military students, and told me to swap places. I drove it, accelerated it, turned and pulled some Gs in it. My first impression was that inside it was so understated because of the lack of instrument clusters and traditional driver dash. It was all on the touch screen which seemed much larger than 17" inside a car. It was smooth and tastefully spare. I could not even open the door by myself, he had to use the remote to pop them out to pull. The interior was just right. Not ostentatious, not bare so much as being there to move us. The acceleration was amazing, silent, and the Air Conditioner sounded loud even though it was only a whisper in the absence of all the noises and herky jerky motions we took to represent powerful engines until we drive this car. The bouncy front rising, body torqueing, wheels peeling rubber, center of gravity shifting all are absent. It dawned on me that the low center of gravity and absence of engine sounds were a new standard. The absence of the smells of fuels and oils was also apparent. It was both more powerful than the '66 427 Sting Ray my friend had and would almost twist when power shifting. It was the most powerful thing I had ever driven. I owned a Porsche 911 Targa, the first with the K jetronic fuel injection system many years ago. It had the same kind of power without too much noise. But the tuned exhaust was meant to be heard. This was like a Leer jet on takeoff minus any noise and bounce, just the sheer speed like being shot out of a slingshot. The acceleration is unlike anything I ever felt. He has no issues with it or range anxiety. He is just enjoying it daily. I gotta get one of the first consumer models in a couple of years, and in the meantime I will get an Electric Smart, maybe this September when they become available. The silent electric powered automobile is inevitable. The genie has been let out of the bottle. The ride is as smoother than any luxury car today, yet as responsive and nimble handling as any super car. Except for wind they are silent. I don't hear any whine but my high freqs are gone from 20 years of running firing ranges and shooting in the military. So there may be some sounds I can't hear. I was starstruck, by an inanimate object. I swapped emails and numbers with him. He could have gotten options and didn't. I am still grinning! At the product I helped bring along, and the stock as it rises again, already up four dollars from opening. No I have no sell orders. Maybe later but not now.

I got a couple of pms asking for more perspective on shorts and the mechanics of a "Short Squeeze." This short article explains it very well, and in particular why, with Musk owning more than 24%, and not selling a single share, and the shorts now with roughly 24%, and the longs like me encouraged to stay the course as the squeeze tightens, panic mode is setting in as the shorts become desperate to cover their bets and return the shares they "borrowed." http://seekingalpha.com/article/1433051-tesla-100-coming-very-very-soon?source=yahoo If you want a guide to view this rare classic short squeeze knowledgably, that article does the trick succinctly.

What a ride! Today I thought to sell a little less than half of my shares if Tesla goes above 100. I put in a sell order at 2pm when it had fallen from 86 to 83. I went on two computer calls and got home at five and it had gone to 87.80 at close. I decided that it had a longer way to go before I sell any and cancelled the sell at 100 order. An hour later it hit 90.01 after hours, and I expect it to go over 100 and more very soon. I was almost swayed by security fallback advice to take some off the table. Especially some of the anti Tesla articles that were pretty desperate to try to paint a bleak picture out of their fear they are wrong and all of us are right. I wasn't listening to my inner voice. I believe that we are in for at least two Wow factor announcements in the next few days to weeks. I believe we will hear about remarkable numbers of supercharger stations already installed across the country. Then I expect to hear about a dramatic increase in range capabilities one right after the other. I won't stray from my long view and hold position without more than echoes of past regrets of others in the few articles still trying to try to make others fearful. Regardless it won't pay if I don't play. Watch the next week. Then the next few after that. I am now at about 400% up on my investment. I believe things are just getting started rally wise.

Since I won't be eligible to draw early SS until May 2014, RMDs and other rules are new to me. We aren't needing income beyond my retirement but only because we worked to have a paid for place forever, which is exactly as long as whichever of us two drops last. Then what the kids do with it is irrelevant to us. Our dreams are no more theirs, than our parents dreams were ours. We have exceeded them, and our kids have exceeded us, well one of two, and the other is a good man.

Don, Don't worry, I caught that on reading it. I used similar figures when I was figuring on taking my investment back and letting the rest ride. I just assumed a typo. Me, I use a calculator once I have removed my sneaks and run out of fingers and toes! I still haven't ruled out selling half, and having 1.5 times my original investment in hand. But then I realized that I have no other place as clear cut as Tesla to put it at the moment. So for now I am holding and enjoying the ride.

Thanks guys! I am listening and learning. I am long on Tesla for now. If all I do is double then great. But even at triple today, were I to take a profit, I believe I would regret not waiting for the short squeeze to get frantic, and that should be sooner than later. Besides, the target price is higher than 70 now I believe. Watch the next few weeks, maybe up to a couple of months. I am not really nervous about this. What I don't think I will live to see is the traveling wave reactors that will use our spent rods we are currently storing for fuel, and literally run for not much further cost for 50 years on one fueling. http://www.terrapower.com/ Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are backing that among other world changing initiatives to pay back through the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. (Warren left his wealth to the foundation) 20 years from now energy won't be the issue. Not even China will want to buy middle eastern oil by then.

Thanks Jim! It is nice that folks are looking out for the less experienced with their experience. I do over explain and ramble on them though because online folks tend to take offense at some of my grinning posts because of the lack of body language and audible voice inflection. I do appreciate all the feedback. Like when everyone thought I was nuts and I stuck it out, and now the same, I am in it for the long haul. My fear of taking out any out is that I will not be able to buy back at the same or lower price. Plus, if that makes me enough and I can sell at 80 say, then rebuy at 70, the taxes might eat the profit or worse. I like the idea of the 3d printers and may have to buy one one day. Like the Tesla Model S, it isn't that I can't afford it, it is that I won't right now. I have no one to impress and I think I will get as much of a thrill out of the Smart Electric with one of our drive trains in it. My luxury sports car days are over by lack of interest. My interest in solar and EVs is because of dwindling resources as I get older. The ones they will surely keep charging more for until the demand drops, like oil and electric, and the ones at my disposal from being robbed by oil interests and idiots that want me to pay their taxes because I don't make as much. There really were no affordable alternative energy vehicles or cheap solar until recently. Sounds like you have a handle on the stop loss issues but I know if there is an angle in investing, it will also have a hook. I don't want to make money betting against my company. My losses are theirs, and vice versa. It might take some more ups and downs to finish bringing this technology to the masses, but we will. I think this is as seminal a paradigm shift as changing from the horse to the horseless. I am sure the last vinyl records will be in a museum one day, along with internal combustion engines, steam engine displays, cassette tapes, 8 tracks, CDs and DVDs, and CRT television screens. I won't fly in a plane where I am the pilot. That was my attitude about the stock market and casinos. I left the gambling to gamblers and my long term investment in fund managers hands and they have done quite alright. I look at you guys here in the know about stocks like I look at local small plane pilots. I know I could, but other things take priority to do yet. And there are no shortcuts to knowing what you are doing and the cost/benefits.

Short version. The shorts haven't fully panicked yet, many of the major analysts changed it from a hold, to a buy in the last week. More daily. I expect it to hit 100 as soon as the short squeeze is working. The squeeze is on and it will be apparent from the next few days to the next few weeks. Shares are up on the good news. Sort covering will really drive the price up temporarily. Then it will stabilize I'd guess at around 60-70, and grow in fits and starts to over 200 in the next few years. I expect it will be more, but that is my conservative estimate. I will still be posting in the next few years. We'll see if I am reading the tea leaves, and the Tesla schedule of events, and goals, correctly. Execution is not on my worry list.

Don, I have no idea what you are talking about. Does it involve an added risk or payments to a third party? I don't do shorts, don't really understand them either. I am fine long with Tesla. Been with them ten years but only got be a backer three years ago. They just went into the black this quarter. A little soon to worry dontcha think? Remember I got in at the start and again twice more for additional blocks at 22.5. I don't feel I will lose, in fact my doubling was at around 43-44. If it goes back down I will buy more. I don't think they will go away. They are like the proverbial genie that got out of the bottle. They aren't going back in. The opposition did not manage to keep the lid on it, not even with the help of O'Reilly with two year old data showing his ignorance as usual, or Palin comparing them to Solyndra and big Gov't when they are paying the loan off earlier. And most did not know of the billions the previous administration gave to Nissan and GM to develop sustainable energy low pollution vehicles in what was it, 2004-7? I truly believe they are the next Apple from an investment perspective, but what do I know? But I do not believe I am in danger of any losses in the near to midterm. I am backing the new global American Car company, and helping to make solar recharging and EVs a reality. I may even buy a Smart Electric in September when they arrive in Dallas. Cash.