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The Real Story Behind Tesla's Crazy Rally

As Elon Musk settles into being richer than Warren Buffett, NLW looks at what is driving the Tesla stock rally.

(Bram Van Oost/Unsplash)
(Bram Van Oost/Unsplash)

As Elon Musk settles into being richer than Warren Buffett, NLW looks at what is driving the Tesla ($TSLA) stock rally.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
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For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Crypto.com.

Today on the Brief:

  • Wall Street quarterly earnings season opens
  • Investor flock to higher-yielding Chinese government bonds
  • Bitcoin whales go down but other types of HODLers go up

See also: Inequality, Social Chaos, Bankruptcy Rallies: The Best Insights From FinTwit June 2020

Main topic: What the hell is going on with $TSLA?

Elon Musk is now richer than Warren Buffett. A year ago, Tesla wasn’t as valuable as Ford or GM. Now it’s more than 25% of the value of the auto market as a whole.

In this episode, NLW looks at a set of possible explanations:

  • Elon as a Golden God/the cult of personality
  • Tesla as an innovative tech company
  • Better-than-expected vehicle delivery
  • The mother of all short squeezes
  • Robinhood effect
  • Mr. FEDerico
  • Narrative Market Machine

See also: The Definitive Guide to Doge's TikTok Pump

In the end, NLW argues that in a world where 1) the new retail base is willing to engage in narrative and meme warfare and 2) where the Federal Reserve distorts prices, the narrative market machine becomes more of a driver of prices than ever before.

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.

Nathaniel Whittemore

NLW is an independent strategy and communications consultant for leading crypto companies as well as host of The Breakdown – the fastest-growing podcast in crypto. Whittemore has been a VC with Learn Capital, was on the founding team of Change.org, and founded a program design center at his alma mater Northwestern University that helped inspire the largest donation in the school’s history.

Nathaniel Whittemore