odysseus2000 wrote:Howard
You would have a more believable investment case if you actually bought a Tesla
Quite fascinated by why you think this.
How does owning a product influence an investment case?
In my case if I go out & buy a Tesla it will have no material impact on my investments and worse will make all the neighbours more aware of my financial situation, likely causing all of them to want me to contribute to various endeavours that I am happy to let them fund.
Meanwhile if I watch what other folk are doing & where many others are spending their money this will have a direct investment case impact. This is how I often invest. To give you an example. I like Apple as an investment/trade because I see lots of people using Apple products. I also watch Louis Rossman who goes over the technical reasons why he does not like Apple products or Apple service. Rossman makes some super good logical analysis & points out serious Apple flaws & bad workmanship. But people still buy Apple stuff, and I regularly own Apple shares & have a few Apple products, the newest now is over 4 years old, my iPhone is a 4s. Would buying more Apple products make a difference to my investment performance?
My job as an investor/trader as I see it is to make profits, not to own products made by companies. What am I missing, why would me buying any product made by any company make me a better investor/trader?
It may surprise you to know that I mostly trade on price anyway, looking for sell offs as an opportunity to buy, run ups as an opportunity to sell.
Regards,
Ody
You may not agree, but there is a reasonable argument for using one’s own experience of a company’s products or services in deciding whether or not to invest. If one experiences poor service or shoddy products from a company this may be a strong reason not to buy their shares. Equally, if one has brilliant service and enjoys high quality products from a start-up company’s competitors it might be wise to proceed with caution before investing.
I agree that there are exceptions. A company like Apple, can be chosen for fashion reasons which may defy logic and they may succeed. But they have to offer high quality at least as good as the competition or they will ultimately fail.
It could be argued that, if one shopped at M&S and noticed over the years that their stores became emptier and their products less attractive, this might be a rational argument for not buying their shares. Even if confronted with sophisticated analyses of their future financial performance by those who have never entered one of their stores!
And as a reader of investor posts over many years I am very wary of those who recommend buying shares in companies when they obviously don’t own their products if these are readily available.
Moving on to cars. Since I was a schoolboy I have noticed that males can be quite irrational in their views on cars. The “Top Gear” audience shows this behaviour in an amusing light. People who drive Fords will argue heatedly about the merits of a Ferrari vs a Lamborghini vs a Tesla. What do they really know about how the cars feel or handle and what the motivation of a purchaser might be? Outrageous he may be, but at least Jeremy Clarkson drove the cars he pontificated about.
To be honest, I haven’t driven a Lamborghini or a Tesla (although I did contact Tesla to ask for a test drive when I was choosing a new car but their sales team either couldn’t or wouldn’t arrange this). As a careful buyer, I wouldn’t dream of buying/leasing an expensive car without a thorough test drive before making a decision.
I do have experience of driving some of the cars Tesla are competing with and, in my opinion, they offer tough competition. You have previously read my experience of trouble-free motoring with premium cars - only a couple of faults in the last 20 years of motoring.
Some people may disagree with me, but I think that touchscreen control of virtually every function in a model 3 is inconvenient/dangerous in practice. Mrs H’s Golf has many functions controlled by a touchscreen and it is a nightmare to change the Sat Nav or radio or media, dabbing at a screen on a slightly bumpy road. And using a smartphone touchscreen display whilst driving is also dangerous in my view.
Changing settings in (for example) a new BMW is easy with voice and idrive rotary controls and buttons which can be pre-programmed to carry out a function. However bumpy the road, one can do this without being distracted from the traffic ahead. And, of course, when the car is stationary one can use the alternative touchscreen which is as sensitive and controllable as an Apple product.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Tesla improve the model 3 controls in the future and maybe for the model Y. But this isn’t a forecast!
So, with experience of driving cars with excellent and safe controls, I am a sceptic about the model 3. And, whilst I have acquaintances and friends with upmarket cars, I have yet to meet someone who drives a Tesla. If I meet a delighted Tesla owner, who has never had a problem with his/her car and who will take me for a drive to convince me of the quality of the car for normal, safe, everyday driving, I might be more sympathetic to the company.
On a personal note, I am a long-term investor, not a trader. And, maybe irrationally, I want to like the companies I invest in. And I don’t invest in companies where I don’t trust the CEO or the board. It’s nice to back the occasional buccaneer but some of us find some of Elon Musk’s behaviour very unattractive and it spoils the investment case for the company.
Hopefully I have answered your questions. We each have our own investment style. When you started this forum many years ago on the Motley Fool, I was an admirer of Elon Musk and trusted him to achieve some of his claims. Now, sadly, I wouldn’t invest until the leadership of the company is improved.
But would I buy/lease a quality BEV with a reasonable range? Yes, like a shot when a sensible car becomes available at a sensible price.
regards
Howard