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Mathematician: Here’s Why the Simulation Theory Is Stupid

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

The logic behind simulation theory, or the idea that we live in a virtual reality, doesn't really make sense, according to mathemetician Jonathan Bartlett.

Reality Check

One of the most unusual speculations in the realm of science and tech is that the universe itself isn’t real.

Simulation theory, or the notion that our entire perceived reality is a virtual creation of some sophisticated alien — or future human — society, has a lot of support among big names like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom, and most recently a bunch of kids on TikTok.

But the idea is almost certainly nonsense, mathematician Jonathan Bartlett, director of a STEM research non-profit called The Blythe Institute, told Mind Matters News. Simulation theory, he argues, relies on faulty logic — meaning it’s more likely that we are in fact living in reality.

Stacking Turtles

To make his point, Bartlett considers the technology required to simulate physical reality in a virtual environment.

“I can make a model of atoms moving around, but it actually requires entire computers, which are all made of trillions of atoms, to make that simulation,” Bartlett told Mind Matter News. “And so you actually wind up with a space problem that you can’t simulate as much as you have reality. And so even if you could make a perfect simulation of reality, it would have to be a smaller reality than what you’re simulating it with.”

Logical Challenge

That becomes a problem for simulation theory’s argument that if any advanced civilization learns to simulate reality, we’d be more likely than not to live in a simulation because the simulated entities would eventually learn to do the same and create a string of simulations all the way down.

“There’s kind of a faulty logic that goes to why a lot of people think we live in a simulation,” Bartlett told Mind Matter News.

READ MORE: Jonathan Bartlett on Why We Do Not Live in a Simulated Universe [Mind Matters News]

More on simulation theory: Kids on TikTok Are Convinced We’re Living in a Simulation

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This Might Be the Dumbest Vaccine Conspiracy Theory We’ve Ever Seen

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

A diagram conspiracy theorists claimed to be of a 5G chip that had been inserted into the COVID-19 vaccine turned out to be the schematic of a guitar pedal.

Conspiracy theorists in Italy are sharing an image of a circuitry diagram they claim is a 5G chip that has been inserted into the COVID-19 vaccine.

Not surprisingly, the theory is nonsense.

And as it turns out, as Boing Boing points out, the diagram is the schematic of a popular electric guitar pedal by music gear maker Boss. So if it were in the vaccine, which it’s not, it would absolutely shred.

Here in Italy people started to share this figure claiming that this is the diagram of the 5G chip that has been inserted in the covid vaccine.
In reality it is the electric circuit of a guitar pedal and I believe that putting it in the covid vaccine has been an excellent idea pic.twitter.com/qXKnv7VVly
— Mario Fusco (@mariofusco) December 28, 2020

A tweet by open source advocate and Red Hat project lead Mario Fusco first shed light on the extremely dumb theory.

“In reality it is the electric circuit of a guitar pedal and I believe that putting it in the COVID vaccine has been an excellent idea,” Fusco wrote.

“I bet when they found out they were all, ‘Wah! Wah!'” Twitter user Craig Cowling quipped.

It’s unclear how widely the image was shared on social media, but the unintentionally hilarious post is symptomatic of a much larger — and more serious — problem.

Throughout the pandemic, coronavirus conspiracies and misinformation have circulated widely online. The World Health Organization even had to create an entire webpage dedicated to the most common ones, including phony remedies such as taking a hot bath or eating garlic.

The French ministry of health even had to declare in March that “no, cocaine does NOT protect against COVID-19,” in a post on Twitter.

In case you’re wondering, the BOSS Metal Zone MT-2 guitar pedal provides “incredible-sounding distortion pedal” and is “a must-have pedal for any hard rock or metal guitarist,” according to the company.

The post This Might Be the Dumbest Vaccine Conspiracy Theory We’ve Ever Seen appeared first on Futurism.

Scientists Are Using Bread as a Scaffold for Human Cells

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

A team of scientists found that Irish soda bread can serve as a viable, low-cost alternative for cell scaffolding in the lab.

Carb Loading

A team of scientists took pandemic baking to a new level — by using their doughy creations as a scaffold for lab-grown human cells.

“It seemed like a fitting project for these times,” lead author and University of Ottawa researcher Andrew Pelling told New Scientist.

The project, shared on the preprint server BioRxiv, sounds like a bit of a stunt. But if the cells end up being viable for use, using bread as a scaffold instead of collagen could drive down the cost of medical treatments and even lab-grown meat.

Sláinte!

Pelling and his team tried several different breads to see what worked best with the cells. Many of their early attempts — as well as any gluten-free recipes — resulted in what New Scientist characterized as a “soggy mess.”

But the scientists’ luck changed when they tried out Irish soda bread. After baking the soda bread, sterilizing it with alcohol, and then chemically treating it to reinforce its structure, the team found that human muscle, skin, and bone cells were able to cling on and proliferate.

“It’s remarkable to me how human and animal cells have this capacity to grow in really odd, artificial environments,” Pelling told New Scientist.

Get That Bread

So far, Pelling knows that the cells can grow on bread. What he doesn’t yet know is whether those cells will be remotely useful to lab-grown meat manufacturers or clinicians.

“While there are still many studies needed to determine if bread is a viable scaffold,” Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher Glenn Gaudette, who didn’t work on the study, told New Scientist, “this innovative thinking by Pelling can help push the field in new directions.”

READ MORE: Home baking frenzy inspires tissue scaffold for growing human muscle [New Scientist]

More on lab-grown cells: Scientists Grow Mini Human Livers, Transplant Them Into Rats

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Scientists Are Using Bread as a Scaffold for Human Cells

Video Shows Blue UFO Falling Into Ocean in Hawaii

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

In a public radio interview, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called on Congress to spend more time listening to reports of unidentified aircraft.

Blue Shift

Unsuspecting Hawaiians spotted something strange last week: a large blue unidentified object falling out of the sky and into the ocean, as local news station ABC 11 reports.

Videos show a strange, longish object floating in the air near Haleakala Avenue in Nanakuli on Oahu island.

After several 911 calls, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that there weren’t any aircraft disappearing off the radar nor were there any reports of missing aircraft in the region, according to ABC 11.

Incredible Blue UFO spotted in Hawaii that the FAA confirmed was not a known aircraft of any kind. Amazing stuff pic.twitter.com/4wYOqEP4qk
— Josh Thomas (@milehigherjosh) January 3, 2021

Hawaii UF-O

“I look up and then I was like oh shit,” UFO spotter Moriah told local news station Hawaii News Now. “I started calling my husband and them because they were all in the garage. I was like hey. Come look up there. See if you see what I see. They all said yea!”

“I don’t know what it was,” she added. “This one was going so fast.”

The entire time, the telephone pole-sized object reportedly made no noise — even when it went for a dip in the ocean and disappeared.

More on UFOs: Former CIA Director Says UFO Videos Are “Quite Eyebrow-Raising”

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You Can Now Get a COVID Test in a Vending Machine

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Students at the University of California in San Diego are now able to get a coronavirus test kit from a vending machine, local LA news station KTLA5 reports.

The machines are part of a program in which students and employees will be provided with free tests. The university will cover the cost, but students will have to complete daily symptom and exposure screenings.

Twenty vending machines containing the kits were installed in early December in an attempt to get ahead of any potential outbreaks. Testing is meant for both the symptomatic and asymptomatic.

Remote-only students are also encouraged to take part in free testing twice a month, according to the university’s website.

Anybody who doesn’t complete their test “for more than 16 days will be referred to the Student Conduct Office for the progressive discipline process.”

According to KTLA 5, UC San Diego will also test samples of wastewater outflow for signs of the coronavirus.

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Scientists Are Worried Vaccines Won’t Protect Against New COVID Strains

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

According to several UK expert scientists, there's a chance that current vaccines won't provide sufficient immunity against emerging variants.

According to several UK experts, there’s a chance that vaccines currently being administered in the country won’t provide sufficient immunity against new strains of the coronavirus emerging in both the UK and South Africa, Reuters reports.

The scientists are most concerned about several mutations in the spike protein, the part of the virus that it uses to enter human cells. Such mutations “may make the virus less susceptible to the immune response triggered by the vaccines,” as Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, told Reuters.

“The accumulation of more spike mutations in the South African variant are more of a concern and could lead to some escape from immune protection,” Warwick University virologist Lawrence Young added.

Reports emerged in mid-December of a UK variant of the coronavirus that appeared to be more contagious. Days later, scientists discovered yet another strain in South Africa.

It’s important to note is that there’s still no evidence that the vaccines currently being administered aren’t able to protect against these new variants. But scientists are concerned — so it’ll be a question to keep an eye on, and one that could have far-reaching consequences for the future of COVID.

And even if the vaccine isn’t effective against the new strains, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers might be able to make changes to the vaccine to add protection against the emerging variants. Scientists believe such changes could be made in around six weeks, according to Reuters.

“We are testing whether our vaccine can also neutralize this variant and will soon know more,” Ugur Sahin, CEO of COVID-19 manufacturer BioNTech, told German magazine Der Spiegel last week.

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Scientists Are Worried Vaccines Won’t Protect Against New COVID Strains

More South Koreans Died Than Were Born in 2020

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

South Korea recorded more deaths than births for the first time last year, and the government is trying to pay new parents to reverse the trend.

Sudden Drop

The year 2020 marks the first time that South Korea recorded more deaths than it did new births.

That has officials concerned about the long-term implications of a declining population, the BBC reports. Soon, they say the government will make “fundamental changes” to prevent the population decline from getting any steeper.

Baby Bonus

The population drop wasn’t massive. The tally of 307,764 deaths compared to 275,800 births represents a loss of just 31,874 people — small compared to the country’s population of 51.3 million — but that’s still 10 percent fewer births than in 2019.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced new cash incentives to support new parents last month, according to the BBC. Starting in 2022, the families of each newborn will be given 2 million won (about $1,850) to help cover prenatal care on top of about 300,000 won (about $275) each month until the baby’s first birthday.

Unresolved Issues

If the incentives don’t work and the downward trend continues, South Korea could someday face similar issues to Japan, which has struggled in recent years to replace its aging workforce.

But cash for medical care may not be enough, according to the BBC, as unaffordable real estate and the lack of work-life balance seem to be major, unaddressed factors in young families’ decisions to not have kids.

READ MORE: Alarm as South Korea sees more deaths than births [BBC]

More on demographics: The Elderly in Japan Are Using Exoskeletons to Delay Retirement

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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) Stock Price, News, Quote & History …

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- A red-hot trend in the car industry is for new entrants such as Fisker Inc. to hand over the complicated and capital-intensive work of engineering and building vehicles to a contract manufacturer. Increasingly, cars are judged on their software and electronics so why bother wasting time and money on metal bashing?If Apple Inc. is indeed seriously considering launching its own vehicle, as press reports suggest, then it will almost certainly decide to outsource, as it does with the iPhone. Apple designs the phone and its operating system but employs Foxconn to assemble components into a handset.Theres at least one big contract manufacturer ready to take advantage of these seismic industry changes: Canadas Magna International Inc. If Apple is serious about building a car Magna Steyr should build it, says Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally. Even if Apple doesnt come knocking, the manufacturer is already advising tech groups and start-ups looking to enter the automotive business, and investors have taken notice.Magnas shares have almost trebled since March, giving it a $21billion market value.For a great primer on Magna and its earliercar development work with Apple (those discussions didnt ultimately go anywhere) do read this piecefrom 2016 by my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Alex Webb and Bloomberg News writers.Magna is one of the worlds biggest car-parts suppliers, having generated nearly $40 billion of revenue in 2019 from products such as transmissions, vehicle cameras, mirrors and seating. The contract manufacturing subsidiary, Magna Steyr, is the really interesting piece. It builds niche premium vehicles at a factory in Graz, Austria, including the Mercedes G-Class 4x4, the electric Jaguar I-Pace and the BMW Z4 sportscar. Typically those companies chooseto outsourcethe work, rather than retool or build a new production line, because the sales volumes are relatively small. In 2019 Magna assembled almost 160,000 vehicles more than many carmakers produce and generated $6.7 billion of revenue from these activities. Together with joint venture partner Beijing Automotive Group Co. (BAIC)itrecently added anotherfacility in China, which is capable of producing 180,000 vehicles yearly.A north American plant might be next.Magnas client rosteralready extends well beyond the traditional automakers. Henrik Fiskers eponymous car venture, for one, went public in October after merging with a special purpose acquisition company. A manufacturing and vehicle engineering partnership with Magna is key to Fiskers asset-light approach. The latter often comparesthis to the Apple-Foxconn relationship and hopes that will avoid the production nightmares that bedeviled Tesla Inc.The Austrian Magna subsidiary is reportedly in talks about producing vehicles for Canoo Inc., another SPAC-backed car start-up, whilein China its started producing the Arcfox for BAICs electric vehicle offshoot. Other projects include helping Alphabet Inc.s Waymo subsidiary integrate self-driving technology into vehicles and workingwith Sony Corp. to produce the futuristic Vision S prototype car.Its not a secret that almost every non-OEM interested in realizing its own complete vehicles is contacting us, Frank Klein, Magna Steyrs boss, told investors last year.You can see why new entrants may chose to work with a neutral party like Magna rather than partnering and sharing plans with an existing carmaker that might be a potential rival. As well as providing production capacity,Magna saysit can handle the entire vehicle development process. The company was hired to turn chemicals billionaire Jim Ratcliffes Grenadier 4x4into reality. The vehicles Magna builds in its factories usually includemore of its own components and systems than is the case for cars it doesnt make.It can also take a financial interest in the companies with which it works. If it does what it promises, Magna could end up owning 6% of Fisker. Last year, it invested $100 million in Waymo .These are welcome sweeteners because contract manufacturings economics are tough. The vehicle-buildingsubsidiary produced a 2% operating return on sales last year much lower than the average in other parts of Magnas business.And there are risks in adding manufacturing capacity for start-ups who may fail or decide to insource the work themselves. If Apple were to become a Magna customer it would drive the same hard bargain as it does with Foxconn, whose operating margins have shrunk to about 2%.Apples is24%.Still, Magnas shares look less dauntingly overvalued than many companies with one foot in the electric-vehicle future.Even after its blistering recent run, the stock is priced at less than 12 times forward earnings. The Canadian manufacturer has its attractions even without a Tim Cook order.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) Stock Price, News, Quote & History ...

Tesla’s Elon Musk Challenged (via Twitter) to Run Baja 1000 in Cybertruck – Car and Driver

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

FREDERIC J. BROWNGetty Images

When your personal Twitter feed is the main source of news and information for your company, it's likely that you'll receive some odd requests or messages sent to your account. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has discovered (and perhaps encouraged) that. In addition to the usual requests for new features by Tesla owners and the usual rants, Musk has been challenged to a race by Jim Glickenhaus, owner of boutique automaker Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, while Comma.ai founder George Hotz proposed a wager that Tesla's Full Self-Driving software will not reach Level 5 fully autonomous driving by January 2022.

Musk responded to the founder of Comma.ai, which makes a driver assistance add-on for vehicles. Hotz has long been a fan of the Tesla CEO and on several occasions has stated that he believes Tesla will win the race to full autonomy. In fact, while offering up the $10,000 wager that Tesla's vehicles won't get to Level 5 in the next 12 months, he said, "We think you'll win, but not that fast." Level 5 autonomy means a vehicle can operate on any road and in any conditions that a human driver could negotiate, but without any interaction from the human in the vehicle.

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Musk's reply did not exactly accept the wager, but he did state: "Tesla Full Self-Driving will work at a safety level well above that of the average driver this year, of that I am confident. Cant speak for regulators though." That was enough for the Comma.ai account to post, "I'm fine with that as the bet. We'll buy a Model 3 with FSD. I'll supervise it driving me around for a month next January, no disengagement you win, any safety disengagement or user action required to get to destination we win. Will post video proof to claim. Deal?"

Sjoerd van der WalGetty Images

When contacted by Car and Driver and asked whether or not Musk had privately accepted the wager, Hotz told us, "Sadly, no, he didn't reply to our follow-up tweet with details."

Hotz said he believes that Tesla will have Level 5 autonomy "sometime this decade." When asked why he thought it would take that long, he responded, "LOL, 'cause it's really hard."

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In addition to forgoing gambling, the Tesla CEO also seems to be skipping out on a potential race. Last week, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus owner Jim Glickenhaus threw down the off-roading gauntlet via Twitter. Glickenhaus used Musk's statement that hydrogen fuel-cell technology is "mind-boggling stupid" as a jumping-off point to challenge Tesla to race in the 2023 Baja 1000. Tesla would bring the Cybertruck and Glickenhaus would bring a hydrogen-powered Boot on-/off-road beast. We had a chance to drive the V-8 version of the Boot back in 2019, and we were impressed.

Musk didn't respond at all on Twitter to the challenge. When asked by Car and Driver if he had heard from the Tesla CEO, Jim Glickenhaus said, "Nope."

As for the reasoning for the challenge, managing director (and son of Jim) Jesse Glickenhaus told C/D that he has tremendous respect for Musk and his companies and admitted that the family owns a few Teslas. But they're not exactly built for the type of driving Glickenhaus is looking for. "We, on the other hand, build cars for driving, where driving is the point. It is about the drive, not the destination: the pleasure of the experience of interacting viscerally with a mechanical object, feeling, hearing, and smelling the physics," he told us.

The younger Glickenhaus said they chose the Baja 1000 because it's the "toughest endurance race in the world." The crux of their argument that hydrogen fuel cells are superior to battery-electric vehicles is that today's battery technology has limitations: they're heavy, prone to loss of range in cold weather, and there's the recharge time. "If electric battery vehicles cannot compete against gasoline-powered vehicles in the most extreme racing environmentsthe 24 Hours of Nrburgring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Baja 1000then they cannot compete against gasoline engines in the most extreme uses, many of which are the most polluting," Jesse Glickenhaus said.

Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus wants to build a hydrogen Boot to show that the powertrain can compete with gas-powered vehicles, part of a sweeping plan to use hydrogen power to "change the world and leave it in a better state for all our children than it is today" without sacrificing extreme driving.

"I have no idea whether Musk will accept our challenge. My guess is he will not, because he knows, despite his public railing against fuel cells, that hydrogen is better suited than current batteries for the most extreme environments," Glickenhaus said.

If the CEO does follow through with accepting either challenge, it opens the door to even more online provocations meant to put Tesla's money and technology where its, or at least Musk's, mouth is. But if for some reason he does decide to settle these issues publicly, a Cybertruck vs. hydrogen-powered Boot race in 2023 is going to be one to watch.

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Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Magellan Health, FLIR Systems, Tesla & more – CNBC

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Magellan Health (MGLN) The managed care company agreed to be acquired by Centene (CNC) for $95 per share in cash or $2.2 billion. The deal represents a nearly 15% premium for Magellan shareholders over its most recent closing price. Shares of Magellan jumped more than 12% in premarket trading.

FLIR Systems (FLIR) The maker of thermal imaging cameras and sensors will be bought by industrial instruments and software maker Teledyne Technologies (TDY) for about $8 billion in cash and stock. The deal values FLIR at about $56 per share, compared to FLIR's Thursday close of $43.83. FLIR shares soared 22% in the premarket.

Tesla (TSLA) Tesla delivered a record 499,550 vehicles in 2020, but did fall just short of its goal of a half-million deliveries after its U.S. plant was temporarily closed by the Covid-19 outbreak. Tesla had delivered about 367,500 vehicles in 2019. Shares of Tesla were up 2.3% in premarket trading.

Brookfield Property Partners (BPY) Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) offered to buy the part of the real estate investment trust that it does not already own for $16.50 per share or stock, or $5.9 billion. Brookfield Property shares leaped 15% in the premarket.

AstraZeneca (AZN) Britain began administering doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, delivering the first dose at Oxford University Hospital. It had rolled out the vaccine made by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) in late 2020. Pfizer shares rose 2.5% in premarket trading.

MGM Resorts (MGM) The casino operator offered $11 billion to buy Britain's Entain, the parent of betting firm Ladbrokes. However, Entain said the bid significantly undervalues its business.

Herbalife (HLF) Investor Carl Icahn sold more than half his stake in the nutrition products maker back to the company, and is giving up his firm's seats on Herbalife's board. The sale of about $600 million in stock reduces Icahn's Herbalife stake to about 6% from the prior 16%. Icahn is estimated to have made more than $1 billion on his Herbalife investment. Herbalife's shares slid 6.3% in the premarket.

Roku (ROKU) Roku is in advanced talks to buy Quibi's content catalog, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Quibi a short-form video streaming service founded by movie industry veteran Jeffrey Katzenberg is in the process of winding down its operations. Roku's shares were up 2.7% in the premarket.

Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) Shareholders of Peugeot parent PSA Groupe have approved the $52 billion merger between the two automakers, with Fiat Chrysler shareholders set to vote today as well. That would clear the way for completion of the deal by the end of March. Shares of Fiat Chrysler rose 1.9% in premarket trading.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) Delta CEO Ed Bastian told employees in a letter that he expected the airline's cash flow to be positive by the spring. He sees the difficulties experienced in 2020 continuing as the new year begins, followed by a rebound in air travel as vaccines become widely available.

Verizon (VZ) Verizon struck a new distribution deal with local TV station operator Hearst Television, avoiding a blackout of Hearst's stations for customers of Verizon's FIOS service.

Ford Motor (F) Ford announced the end of its joint venture with India-based car maker Mahindra, with the automakers pointing to the economic challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nio (NIO) The China-based electric car maker delivered 43,728 vehicles in 2020, more than double 2019 levels. Nio shares rose 3.5% in premarket trading.

Under Armour (UAA) Pivotal Research upgraded the athletic apparel maker's stock to "buy" from "hold," citing valuation as well as its belief that Under Armour is better positioned now than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. Under Armour shares climbed 1.9% in the premarket.

Expedia (EXPE) Expedia was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at BofA Securities, based on an anticipated rebound in travel bookings during the second half of 2021.

German Automakers Are Charged Up and Ready to Take on Tesla – The New York Times

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Next year, Mercedes, a division of Daimler, will introduce the EQS, a battery-powered counterpart to the companys top-of-the-line S-Class. The EQS, which will cost more than $100,000, will be the first vehicle built with Mercedess so-called electric vehicle architecture, the same idea as Volkswagens modular toolbox.

Daimler says the EQS will be able to travel 700 kilometers, or 435 miles, on a charge. That would be slightly more than the current Tesla S. In 2022, Daimler will introduce additional models based on the electric vehicle platform, including a battery-powered S.U.V., to be produced at the companys factory in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

BMW has been slower than its rivals to offer luxury electric vehicles. The company was a pioneer with the battery-powered i3 compact in 2014, but it never caught on with buyers. BMW does not plan to begin producing its own pure electric platform until 2025, instead offering electrified versions of its conventional models.

Pieter Nota, the head of marketing at BMW, told reporters in November that the company did not expect sales of electric vehicles to take off until 2025. Thats why we are starting our battery-centric platform by then, he said.

After stealing significant market share from vehicles like the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes C-Class, Tesla has been showing some vulnerability. Sales in Europe of the Model 3 have been basically flat in recent months after it decisively outsold the European carmakers last year. The Renault Zoe, a utilitarian compact designed for urban use, overtook the Model 3 to become the best-selling battery-powered car in Europe during the first 10 months of 2020.

Volkswagen is trying to undercut Teslas lead in battery technology. The company invested $300 million in QuantumScape, a Silicon Valley firm that is developing solid-state batteries. If the new type of battery can be perfected and mass produced, it will cost less, charge faster and go further than current technology.

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German Automakers Are Charged Up and Ready to Take on Tesla - The New York Times

Tesla Releases Delivery Numbers on a Saturday and Theyre Pretty Good – Barron’s

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Text size

Tesla released fourth-quarter deliveries on Saturday. Its an unusual time for a press release, but Tesla doesnt always play by typical auto company rules. The number, and not the timing, is ultimately what matters to investors, and the delivery number is pretty good.

The electric vehicle pioneer said it delivered 180,570 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2020a quarterly record for deliveries and up about 60% compared from the fourth quarter of 2019.

For the full year, Tesla (ticker: TSLA) delivered about 499,000 vehicles. Thats just short of initial management projections of 500,000 vehicles. That isnt a disappointment though. Initial projections were before Covid-19 impacted the entire auto industry. Tesla 2020 vehicle deliveries grew about 36% compared with the full year 2019, despite pandemic, lock downs and production disruptions.

Wall Street was looking for about 176,000 deliveries for the fourth quarter of 2020, so the reported number represents a beat versus analyst expectations. But estimates had been creeping up into year-end. The highest Street estimates for fourth-quarter deliveries were roughly 185,000 vehicles, while the whisper number for Tesla fourth-quarter deliveries was about 181,000.

A whisper number reflects the most current investor expectations which arent always reflected in analysts published numbers.

The delivery number, considering all that, is good enough. The stock should be fine on Monday, though if could dip a little. Investors often sell on newseven good newsand Tesla shares rose almost 7% in the final week of 2020.

The Saturday delivery number is making Wall Street work the weekend. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the figure in line with the bull whisper number, adding that Tesla hit a high bar for fourth-quarter deliveries.

New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu focused on vehicle production, which rose 71% year over year in the fourth quarter. Thats good news for 2021 deliveries, and he believes 870,000 is possible for 2021. Both Ives and Ferragu are relatively bullish, though they each rate the stock at Hold after its impressive 2020 gains.

Looking ahead for the full year 2021, Wall Street analysts on average project deliveries of 797,000, up another 60% compared with 2020. More sales and production in China along with initial Cybertruck sales in the U.S. should propel sales in the new year. Tesla is also building a plant in Germany to help boost European sales. That plant should be producing cars at some point in 2021.

Tesla stocks 743% gain in 2020 leaves the company worth roughly $670 billionand almost $780 billion on a fully diluted basis. The company is worth hundreds of billions more than the second most valuable car company in the world Toyota Motor (TM).

Teslas basic share count is about 950 million shares. Teslas fully diluted share count is about 1.1 billion shares. The difference between basic shares outstanding and fully diluted shares outstanding is, essentially, an assumption that management stock options are exercised.

The 150 million share gap is mainly due to how CEO Elon Musk is compensated. He takes a salary below what average employees make and chooses to be compensated based on how Tesla stock does. Thats another unusual thing about Tesla.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

Tesla Releases Delivery Numbers on a Saturday and Theyre Pretty Good - Barron's

Nasdaq Sees New Year’s Rout; Zoom, Tesla Make Their Case for Repeat Wins in 2021 – The Motley Fool

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

2020 was a great year for the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC). But at least based on the first trading day of the year, 2021 might not be as friendly to investors who bet big on a bull market rebound from the coronavirus bear market in March. The Nasdaq pulled back from record highs, falling 2.5% as of 12:30 p.m. EST.

Most of the Nasdaq's biggest names fell dramatically as well. Yet amid the carnage, two stocks rose to the top -- just as they did in 2020. Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) defied the negative news for the new year and pushed higher, and many think the two companies might well have a lot more upside in the months and years to come.

Shares of Zoom Video Communications were up more than 4% on Monday afternoon. The video conferencing specialist became an essential service in 2020, and signs suggest that might not change anytime soon.

Image source: Zoom Video Communications.

Zoom had already gone through a significant sell-off during the last couple of months of 2020. Despite posting incredibly strong growth numbers, the stock fell more than 40% from its mid-October highs by the end of the year. The move lower reflected anticipation that a coronavirus vaccine would allow people to return to in-person contact, reducing the need for Zoom's services over the long run.

However, things on the COVID-19 front haven't gone as well as expected recently. A new strain of the coronavirus has forced many countries around the world back into lockdown mode, and case counts in the U.S. and elsewhere remain stubbornly high. Moreover, vaccine distribution in the U.S. and elsewhere hasn't gone smoothly, with much lower adoption than previously anticipated.

Today's drop for the broader stock market reflects some cracks in the armor of bullish investors who'd counted on a quick recovery from the pandemic in 2021. The longer the disease remains unchecked, the longer people will rely on Zoom for communication.

Meanwhile, shares of Tesla were on the rise, climbing 3%. The typical year-end delivery rush didn't quite work out exactly how CEO Elon Musk had scripted it, but investors were still pretty happy with the outcome.

Tesla delivered 180,570 vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2020, according to figures released on Saturday. Nearly 90% of those cars were Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, with the high-end Model S and X representing the other 10%. The figures represented new quarterly records for Tesla.

For the full year, deliveries came in at 499,500. That was just shy of the 500,000 target that Musk had set for Tesla, but the company left open the idea that a recount could push it higher by noting that final numbers could vary by up to half a percent.

Growth of more than 60% from the fourth quarter of 2019 and year-over-year gains of 36% from 2019's total of roughly 368,000 vehicle deliveries were quite impressive, and they point to a healthy future trajectory for the automaker going forward. What's left to see is whether that will translate into another stupendous year for the stock, but today's rise is an encouraging sign.

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Nasdaq Sees New Year's Rout; Zoom, Tesla Make Their Case for Repeat Wins in 2021 - The Motley Fool

Lidar Is Coming To XPeng as Tesla Holds Out on the Self-Driving Technology – Barron’s

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

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Chinese electrical vehicle maker XPeng is upping its self-driving game. On Friday, the company announced a collaboration with Lidar company Livox.

Lidar is laser-based radar used to help enable autonomous driving technology.

Livox isnt publicly traded and is Xpengs (ticker: XPEV) first partner in lidar technology. Livox being selected by a leading Chinese EV manufacturer as a partner isnt necessarily bad news for the publicly traded Lidar players including Veoneer (VNE) and Luminar Technologies (LAZR). As cars get smartercontrolling more of the driving experiencelidar and other sensors should proliferate.

Not everyone is sold on Lidar yet, though. Tesla (TSLA), the most valuable car company in the world, doesnt yet use Lidar sensors. When asked by Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas if the company would use Lidar technology if it was free, CEO Elon Musk replied, I think even if it was free, we wouldnt put it on. Tesla has its own processors, sensors, and software for self-driving applications.

Other sensors that can enable self-driving applications include optical cameras and regular radar. Right now, Lidar tends to be a more expensive option, but the cost of sensors is coming down.

XPeng calls itself a smart EV producer and invests heavily in self-driving technology. It became publicly traded in late August 2020, selling shares at $15. The stock closed 2020 at $42.83, up roughly 185%, far better than comparable gains of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500.

XPeng is recently public, and its popular among analysts covering the shares. Two-thirds of them rate the stock at Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for companies in the Dow is about 57%.

Barrons is more cautious, recently writing that valuations in Chinese EV producers are too high and suggesting that investors take profits. That article appeared in mid-December when XPeng was trading around $44.

XPeng trades for roughly 15 times estimated 2021 sales. Tesla, for comparison, trades for about 14.5 times that number. XPeng peers NIO (NIO) and Li Auto (LI) trade for about 15 times and 8 times estimated 2021 sales, respectively.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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Lidar Is Coming To XPeng as Tesla Holds Out on the Self-Driving Technology - Barron's

Tesla Offers 3 Months of Full Self-Driving If You Buy before Jan. 1 – Car and Driver

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Sjoerd van der WalGetty Images

If youve been pining for a Tesla and want to try out FSD before buying, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has just tweeted out a very, very limited-time offer. Any Tesla vehicles delivered between now and midnight December 31 will get three free months of the FSD (Full Self-Driving) option. A pretty sweet deal if you can make a buying decision that quickly.

Tesla claims the FSD function will eventually enable, as its name implies, full self-driving in certain situations without the need for the driver to pay attention. Musk didn't specify which three months the Tesla buyer gets, but we suspect it will be three months later on, when the feature is out of beta and goes live.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Teslas FSD is currently in beta and being tested by select drivers. The system is supposed to bring autonomous driving to supported Teslas. The feature has suffered from multiple delays and this year, the automaker rewrote the software before pushing out a beta version. Musk had noted that he expected it to be available to the public by the end of 2020, but its unlikely that will happen.

Other than Musks tweet, theres no other information about the deal. The automakers site has nothing about it on vehicle ordering pages. So figuring out how to make this bargain a reality is essentially on the shoulders of potential new buyers. Thatll likely lead to questions like: Will those who have already ordered a Tesla that is scheduled to be delivered between now and midnight on New Year's Eve also get this deal? Our advice for those interested is to call the nearest showroom and cross your fingers.

The $10,000 FSD feature will be offered as a subscription at some point after its release. How much itll be per month is unknown.

The deal is likely intended to spur last-minute deliveries to help boost fourth-quarter numbers. Musk has been pushing the Tesla team to get as many vehicles out the door as possible while the company has simultaneously shut down the Model S and Model X lines for 18 days. The decision wasn't announced until the beginning of this month and forced some workers to have a week without pay during the holidays. Tesla did offer the opportunity for those workers to volunteer to help with deliveries.

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Tesla Offers 3 Months of Full Self-Driving If You Buy before Jan. 1 - Car and Driver

Tesla, MGM and Entain, Bitcoin – 5 Things You Must Know Monday – TheStreet

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Here are five things you must know for Monday, Jan. 4:

Stock futures pointed to a higher open Monday as Wall Street begins the new trading year at record highs on optimism over coronavirus vaccines.

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 152 points, S&P 500 futures were up 17 points and Nasdaq futures rose 53 points.

Stocks closed higher Thursday, the last trading session of 2020, with the Dow and S&P 500 setting new records asa volatile year, brutally disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, ended.

The Dow ended New Year's Eve at 30,606, a record closing high, and the S&P 500 finished at 3,756.

The blue-chip Dow rose 7.3% in 2020, the S&P 500 gained 16.3% - at its pandemic low in March the index had been down more than 30% - and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 43.6%, its best annual performance since 2009.

Traders are perhaps a bit over-eager but believe vaccines will provide the ultimate economic kick-start, offering a massive booster shot to corporate profits, saidStephen Innes of Axi. U.S. deaths from the coronavirus rose to more than 351,500.

Oil prices rose early Mondayas OPEC and its allies were scheduled to meet to consider whether to increase production.West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, was up 1.32% to $49.16 a barrel.

Tesla (TSLA) - Get Reportwas rising more than 2% in premarket trading Monday after the electric vehicle company announced over the weekend that it met its 2020 goal of producing at least half a million cars but narrowly missed its aggressive delivery target following a record year fueled by China demand for its Model 3 sedan.

Tesla delivered 180,570 of its Model S/X and Model 3/Y sedans over the three months ended in December, a 61.2% increase from the same period last year, bringing its year-end total to 499,550 and coming in just below the company's goal of 500,000. Tesla's year-end production total was 509,737 vehicles after a 71.4% increase in the fourth quarter to a record 179,757.

Tesla said it delivered 442,511 Model 3/Ys in 2020, alongside 57,039 for its Model S/X sedan. Production figures for each were 454,932 and 54,805 units, respectively.

"In a nutshell, Tesla had a high bar to hit for 4Q and impressively exceeded the Street coming within its 500k delivery target for the year, an eye-popping performance to finish the year," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. "The EV industry has massive tailwinds into 2021 which will benefit vendors across the board, with Tesla in prime position to further catapult itself in the EV landscape with China front and center."

Tesla shares gained 2.14% to $720.77 in premarket trading.

Tesla Roars to All-Time High After Record 2020 Delivery Total

U.K. gaming company Entain rejected a bid of 8.1 billon pounds ($11.1 billion)fromMGM Resorts International (MGM) - Get Report, sayingthe offer undervalues the company.

MGM's bid of 1,383 pence a share was a 22% premium to closing price of Entains stock on Thursday. Shares of Entain,the owner of brands including Ladbrokes, jumped more than 28% in London. MGM shares were up slightly in premarket trading Monday.

Entain has told its shareholders to take no action with respect to MGM's offer and has asked the Las Vegas Strip'slargest casino operator for "additional information in respect of the strategic rationale for a combination of the two companies."

Entain, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, bills itself as one of the globe's biggest retail online sports betting and gambling groups. It offers sports betting and casino, poker and bingo online games, and operates brands such as Ladbrokes, Coral, BetMGM, bwin, Sportingbet, Eurobet, partypoker, partycasino, Gala and Foxy Bingo.

Bitcoin topped $34,000 on Sunday, after hitting $30,000 for the first time in its history the day before.

Bitcoin crossed $20,000 for the first time on Dec. 16.

"Bitcoin's rise isn't surprising in the least - it's been a buildup of credibility and sustainability, with strong network effects," said Dave Balter, the CEO of Flipside Crypto, in an email to TheStreet.

The world of institutional finance "has finally taken notice" of crypto, added Balter, whose firm posts regular columns on TheStreet.

"No one wants to be last to the dance," he added.

The world's largest cryptocurrency was turning lower Monday, falling as much as 17%. At last check, bitcoin traded at $30,173, according to a composite of prices compiled by Bloomberg.

When asked if the surge in bitcoin could lead to the increase in value of other crypto projects such as ethereum and litecoin - which were both up on Sunday - Balter said it was likely that this rising tide could lift all boats.

"Bitcoin does tend to create a 'wake' for other crypto assets to follow, so my strong belief is you'll see rise in prices from a number of quality projects," Balter said.

The U.S. economic calendar Monday includesMarkit manufacturing PMI for December at 9:45 a.m. ET and Construction Spending for November at 10 a.m.

Economic reports later this week include theISM Manufacturing Index, theADP National Employment Report, weekly Jobless Claims and the official U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls report for December.

Earnings will be released this week from Micron Technology (MU) - Get Report, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) - Get Report, Constellation Brands (STZ) - Get Reportand Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) - Get Report.

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Tesla, MGM and Entain, Bitcoin - 5 Things You Must Know Monday - TheStreet

Will Tesla, Apple and Amazon Help The QQQ ETF Reach $400 By 2022? – Yahoo Finance

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

TipRanks

Weve turned a new page on the calendar, Old Man 20 is out the door, and theres a feeling 21 is gonna be a good year and so far, so good. The markets closed out 2020 with modest session gains to cap off larger annual gains. The S&P 500 rose 16% during the corona crisis year, while the NASDAQ, with its heavy tech representation, showed an impressive annual gain of nearly 43%. The advent of two viable COVID vaccines is fueling a surge in general optimism.Wall Streets top analysts have been casting their eye at the equity markets, finding those gems that investors should give serious consideration in this new year. These are analysts with 5-star ratings from TipRanks database, and they are pointing out the stocks with Strong Buy ratings in short, this is where investors can expect to find share growth over the next 12 months. We are talking returns of at least 70% over the next 12 months, according to the analysts. ElectraMeccanica Vehicles (SOLO)Electric vehicles, EVs, are growing more popular as consumers look for alternatives to the traditional internal combustion gasoline engine. While EVs simply move the source of combustion from under the hood to the electric power plant, they do offer real advantages for drivers: they offer greater acceleration, more torque, and they are more energy efficient, converting up to 60% of their battery energy into forward motion. These advantages, as EV technology improves, are starting to outweigh the drawbacks of shorter range and expensive battery packs.ElectraMeccanica, a small-cap manufacturer from British Columbia, is the designer and marketer of the Solo, a single-seat, three-wheel EV built for the urban commuter market. Technically, the Solo is classed as an electric motorcycle but it is fully enclosed, with a door on either side, features a trunk, air conditioning, and a Bluetooth connection, and travels up to 100 miles on a single charge at speeds up to 80 miles per hour. The recharging time is low, less than 3 hours, and the vehicle is priced at less than $20,000.Starting in Q3 2020, the company delivered its first shipment of vehicles to the US, and expanded into six additional US urban markets, including San Diego, CA and Scottsdale and Glendale, AZ. ElectraMeccanica also opened four new storefronts in the US 2 in Los Angeles, one in Scottsdale, and one in Portland, OR. In addition, the company has begun design and marketing work a fleet version of the Solo, to target the commercial fleet and car rental markets starting in the first half of this year.Craig Irwin, 5-star analyst with Roth Capital, is impressed by SOLOs possible applications to the fleet market. He writes of this opening, We believe the pandemic is a tailwind for fast food chains exploring better delivery options. Chains look to avoid third party delivery costs and balance brand identity implications of operator- vs. company-owned vehicles. The SOLO's 100-mile range, low operating cost, and std telematics make the vehicle a good fit, in our view, particularly when location data can be integrated into a chain's kitchen software. We would not be surprised if SOLO made a couple announcements with major chains after customers validate plans.Irwin puts a Buy rating on SOLO, supported by his $12.25 price target which implies a 98% upside potential for the stock in 2021. (To watch Irwins track record, click here)Speculative tech is popular on Wall Street, and ElectraMeccanica fits that bill nicely. The company has 3 recent reviews, and all are Buys, making the analyst consensus a unanimous Strong Buy. Shares are priced at $6.19 and have an average target of $9.58, making the one-year upside 55%. (See SOLO stock analysis on TipRanks)Nautilus Group (NLS)Based in Washington State, this fitness equipment manufacturer has seen a massive stock gain in 2020, as its shares rocketed by more than 900% over the course of the year, even accounting for recent dips in the stock value. Nautilus gained as the social lockdown policies took hold and gyms were shuttered in the name of stopping or slowing the spread of COVID-19. The company, which owns major home fitness brands like Bowflex, Schwinn, and the eponymous Nautilus, offered home-bound fitness buffs the equipment needed to stay in shape.The share appreciation accelerated in 2H20, after the companys revenues showed a recovery from Q1 losses due to the corona recession. In the second quarter, the top line hit $114 million, up 22% sequentially; in Q3, revenues reached $155, for a 35% sequential gain and a massive 151% year-over-year gain. Earnings were just as strong, with the Q3 $1.04 EPS profit beating coming in far above the year-ago quarters 30-cent loss.Watching this stock for Lake Street Capital is 5-star analyst Mark Smith, who is bullish on this stock. Smith is especially cognizant of the recent dip in share price, noting that the stock is now off its peak which makes it attractive to investors. Nautilus reported blowout results for 3Q:20 with strength across its portfolio We think the company has orders and backlog to drive high sales and earnings for the next several quarters and think we have seen a fundamental shift in consumers' exercise-at-home behavior. We would view the recent pull back as a buying opportunity, Smith opined.Smiths $40 price target supports his Buy rating, and indicates a robust 120% one-year upside potential. (To watch Smiths track record, click here)The unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating shows that Wall Street agrees with Smith on Nautilus potential. The stock has 4 recent reviews, and all are to Buy. Shares closed out 2020 with a price of $18.14, and the average target of $30.25 suggests the stock has room for ~67% upside growth in 2021. (See NLS stock analysis on TipRanks)KAR Auction Services (KAR)Last but not least is KAR Auction Services, a car auctioning company, which operates online and physical marketplaces to connect buyers and sellers. KAR sells to both business buyers and individual consumers, offering vehicles for a variety of uses: commercial fleets, private travel, even the second-had parts market. In 2019, the last year for which full-year numbers are available, KAR sold 3.7 million vehicles for $2.8 billion in total auction revenue.The ongoing corona crisis, with its social lockdown policies, put a damper on car travel and reduced demand for used vehicles across market segments. KAR shares slipped 13% in 2020, in a year of volatile trading. In the recent 3Q20 report, the company showed revenue of $593.6 million, down over 15% year-over-year. Third quarter earnings, however, at 23 cents per share profit, were down less, 11% yoy, and showed a strong sequential recovery from the Q2 EPS loss of 25 cents.As the new vaccines promise an end to the COVID pandemic later this year, and the lifting of lockdown and local travel restrictions, the mid- to long-term prospects for the second-hand car market and for KAR Auctions are brightening, according to Truist analyst Stephanie Benjamin.The 5-star analyst noted, Our estimates now assume that the volume recovery occurs in 2021 vs. 4Q20 under our previous estimates Overall, we believe the 3Q results reflect that KAR is well executing on the initiatives within its control, specifically improving its cost structure and transforming to a pure digital auction model.Looking further ahead, she adds, delinquencies and defaults for auto loans and leases have increased and we believe will serve as a meaningful volume tailwind in 2021 as repo activity resumes. Additionally, repo vehicles generally require ancillary services which should yield higher RPU. This supply influx should also help moderate the used pricing environment and drive dealers to fill up their lots, which remain at three-year lows from an inventory standpoint.In line with these comments, Benjamin sets a $32 price target, implying a high 71% one-year upside potential to the stock, and rates KAR as a Buy. (To watch Benjamins track record, click here)Wall Street generally is willing to speculate on KARs future, as indicated by the recent reviews, which split 5 to 1 Buy to Hold, and make the analyst consensus view a Strong Buy. KAR is selling for $18.61, and its $24.60 average price target suggests it has room to grow 32% from that level. (See KAR stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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Will Tesla, Apple and Amazon Help The QQQ ETF Reach $400 By 2022? - Yahoo Finance

New Year, Same Leaders: Moderna, Tesla Firm Early On Thanks To Deliveries, Vaccine Hopes – Forbes

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Getty Images

Key Takeaways:

First of all, welcome back. Heres hoping you had a great holiday season and feel ready for another exciting year of these fascinating financial markets.

The calendar is new, but the same old pandemic continues to cloud the economic outlook and, lets face it, life as a whole. Last year may have been good for many investors, but it was tough for millions who lost jobs and battled illness during this tragedy. Lets hope for better times ahead.

At least the market is consistent. Its starting 2021 right where it finished 2020on the upswing. Thats the case early Monday, anyway, but theres a lot of unanswered questions going into the week and the year following double-digit Q4 gains for the major indices.

As 2021 gets underway, a key question is whether some of the trends that helped define last years market can spill over. For instance, there was a record boom in new public offerings, investor margin debt rose to an all-time high, and so-called stay at home stocks delivered amazing results. Meanwhile, the market spent most of November and December pricing in a pretty rosy 2021, partly based on vaccines. All these trends face question marks.

Right now theres this great expectation. The downsideif you want to call it thatis can things really live up to what everyone is expecting? What happens to the overall market? How does the vaccine roll-out proceed after a slow start? Do investors keep their risk-on attitude that dominated late 2020? Can pandemic favorites like Peloton (PTON) and Zoom (ZM) continue the growth theyve had after the world returns to normal? These are among the questions facing investors as they return from their holiday break.

Wall Street kicks off 2021 with a familiar tone: Stocks climbed in pre-market trading, spurred on by firmness in Tesla (TSLA) and Moderna (MRNA) after TSLA reported nearly 500,000 deliveries last year and optimism grew about demand for MRNAs vaccine.

Those hoping to ease into the new year will likely be disappointed. The first week of 2021 looks busy on Wall Street, so if you plan on trading consider keeping close tabs on a bunch of data and geopolitical events coming down the pike. Buckle in.

First, theres the Georgia runoff election tomorrow. This will determine who controls the Senate the next two years and potentially a lot of tax and regulatory initiatives. It could even help decide whether theres another round of stimulus and how big it might be. As noted here last week, its possible stocks could suffer a post-holiday hangover if Democrats prevail, only because Wall Street tends to view Democratic control as more likely to bring higher taxes and regulation, though theres no guarantee of either (see more below).

Were also jumping right back into the data pool starting tomorrow with ISM manufacturing for December. The week wraps up with December nonfarm payrolls on Friday. Do you want the good news or bad news first? The good news is that analysts expectations for ISM look solid. The bad news is they think job creation took it on the chin in December.

Headline ISM manufacturinga key metric thats been on the upswing since mid-2020is expected at 56.4% when the report comes out tomorrow morning, according to research firm Briefing.com. Thats down just a smidgen from 57.5% in November and would probably be viewed as market-neutral. Remember, anything above 50% is expansionary. New orders and order backlog were strong in November, so keep an eye on those numbers to see if the positive trends continued.

Well talk more about the payrolls report later this week so you can avoid potential sour news your first day back from the holiday. Lets just say if analysts are right, it looks like it might be the weakest in eight months.

While job growth might be lagging, the stock market starts 2021 at valuations that look pretty high from a historic perspective. Major indices are way above their long-term moving averages and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) trades at 22.5 times analysts average earnings estimates for 2021. Many big banks predict smaller gains in the major indices this year based on the fact that some of the anticipated better earnings and economic news might already be reflected in the market.

For now, a level to watch could be 3750 in the SPX. That had been technical resistance toward the end of 2020, and the market closed just above it to finish the old year. Any move below 3750 could conceivably generate some spillover selling, but closing above it could give the bulls more confidence.

Earnings season doesnt open until mid-month, but that doesnt mean some companies dont get out ahead. This weeks earnings calendar includes Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), Conagra CAG (CAG), and Micron (MU). That means investors hear from a Dow Jones Industrial Average member (WBA) and a closely watched semiconductor firm that increased guidance last month (MU).

In other corporate news, The Wall Street Journal reported that Roku (ROKU ROKU ) is in talks to buy the rights to content from streaming service Quibi. This news seems to be giving ROKU shares some momentum early Monday.

CHART OF THE DAY: WORKING ABOVE THE NET. The S&P 500 Index (SPXcandlestick) climbed above its ... [+] 200-day moving average (blue line) last June and hasnt really looked back. Its current 16% premium to the closely watched 200-day MA has some analysts worried about possible overbought conditions, but others say low interest rates and hopes of an economic revival later this year could justify high prices. Data source: S&P Dow Jones Indices. Chart source: The thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Be PreparedVolatility Often Perks Up Early in Year: Volatility slipped on Wall Street toward late December, with the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) slipping to near its post-pandemic lows. That might not last. At some point were likely going to start to have volatility again related to Covid-19. This is not a story thats necessarily going away in the first six months of 2021. Especially considering the record hospitalizations being recorded and this new strain of the virus thats been making headlines. If theres any stumbles on vaccine logistics, volatility could go up even more.

In fact, in recent years, volatility has often climbed in late January and early February after a slow start. This was true even before the pandemic. Look at what happened in 2018 and 2020, when VIX soared at that time of year. Past events dont guarantee the future, but its worth noting this emerging seasonal trend. VIX ticked up slightly Monday to start the year.

Gridlock Threatened: In a normal year, election drama would be way behind us by now. Of course, 2020 was anything but normal, so Georgia voters go to the polls in two Senate races tomorrow. Nearly two months agoafter the election resulted in split control of Washington we wrote about how gridlock can often be beneficial for stocks, especially sectors where a divided government might not get much done. Keeping current levels of regulation and market-favorable tax laws stood to possibly benefit certain sectors like Health Care SBRA , Energy, and Financials, as well as help investors who wouldnt necessarily have to worry about higher capital gains taxes.

Tomorrows election potentially puts gridlock at risk. Though this isnt a political column, it wouldnt be prudent (as one recent U.S. president liked to say) to ignore the voting. A sweep by the two Democrats would mean Democratic control of the Senate, House and White House. No matter what your politics, its hard to deny that historically having Democrats in control has often led to more regulation and higher taxes (the 20092010 Democratic Congress passed numerous bank laws and the Affordable Care Act, all signed by Democratic President Obama, and Democrats raised gasoline and corporate taxes when they controlled Congress and the presidency back in 1993).

Hard Act to Follow: If youd told the average investor back in late March that all the major indices would forge new highs by year-endincluding 40% gains for the Nasdaq NDAQ (COMP)he or she might have scratched their head about your sanity. But here we are, and a lot of people are looking back at 2020 and wondering how the market could have set records with so much suffering and hardship in the economy.

One lesson learned is that Wall Street just isn't reflecting main street. The stock market usually reflects what investors collectively think will happen in the long run, not right now. Thats why it can be confusing to see stock indices run up big gains at times like these. The other lesson is that there is no main street stock market. Consider this: The companies that enjoyed some of the biggest gains this year werent mom and pop businesses. They were the mega-caps like Apple AAPL (AAPL), Walmart WMT (WMT), and Amazon AMZN (AMZN), which were already enormous businesses before the pandemic. Thats what the stock market tends to reflect. Like it or not, the path these companies and others like them take from here is likely to help define 2021 on Wall Street, whatever happens on main street.

TD Ameritrade commentary for educational purposes only. Member SIPC.

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New Year, Same Leaders: Moderna, Tesla Firm Early On Thanks To Deliveries, Vaccine Hopes - Forbes

Here’s Why Google Has Driverless Cars on the Road and Tesla Does Not – InsideHook

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

Some people argue that being first is best when developing new technology (hello Mark Zuckerberg), others argue that being best is best (think Vine vs. TikTok). In the realm of driverless cars, that debate is playing out before our eyes.

Which leads to the question, where are all the driverless cars we were promised? Its 2021; werent we supposed to have access to autonomous vehicles by now? After all, back in 2019, Elon Musk promised that next year for sure the company would have over a million robotaxis on the road. Today, the first week of the year after that, how many Tesla robotaxis do we have? Zero.

What gives? The Guardian is kicking off the year with an overview of the driverless future weve been promised for years, and why it hasnt exactly come to fruition. But there is one caveat to their premise that all autonomous vehicles are peak hype: Waymo, the self-driving car company thats a subsidiary of Googles parent company Alphabet, has been offering fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area since October of 2020. Simply download the app and the Waymo Driver will take you where you need to go.

Yes, Google beat Elon Musk to the robotaxi starting line. But this is a rivalry that has been brewing for a long time, and theres a clear reason Waymo got there before Tesla.

As The Guardian writes, for the Alphabet companys cars, range remains limited to the sunny suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, whose every centimetre has been mapped by Waymo computers. In short, the Waymo Driver relies on comprehensive, impossibly detailed maps that their autonomous technology uses to navigate. Elon Musk has admitted on Twitter that Tesla worked off of that framework for a while too, but theyve gone in a new direction to solve the problem of driverless cars.

In October, when Waymo launched its robotaxi service, Musk tweeted that reality is just too messy & weird to rely on mapping, and that Teslas tech is capable of driving in locations we never seen even once. That technology, which they call Full Self-Driving (or FSD), has been released in beta form and seems promising, but even that is not fully autonomous (nomenclature theyve had trouble with for a long time). And Tesla robotaxis still seem a long ways off.

Two different takes on driverless cars, neither meeting the threshold of truly autonomous driving, at least not yet.

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Here's Why Google Has Driverless Cars on the Road and Tesla Does Not - InsideHook

Wall Street Insiders Name Tesla Stock of the Year – CleanTechnica

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Dook Domini

January 4th, 2021 by Iqtidar Ali

Its been a tumultuous year on Wall Street. Many blue chip companies experienced great volatility in light of this years pandemic. Some have thrived, others have dived. So, who has come out on top? A number of Wall Street insiders have crowned Tesla [TSLA] 2020s stock of the year.

Yahoo Finance, which haslong been bearish on Tesla,has now pivoted explainingwhy Tesla is the hottest stock of 2020. Yahoo Finance brought in Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki, to provide his point of view on the electric automaker and its bright future ahead.

According to Gerber, Theres so many semi trucks and pickup trucks in America. It is a huge market for Tesla. Tesla Texas is going to be the crown jewel of the Tesla Terafactories in making cells, battery packs, all the way into trucks that will be the most incredible, powerful electric trucks ever built. This is an exciting time for Tesla because that market is enormous.

The UKsIndependentagrees that Elon Musk has taken Tesla to dizzying heights in 2020. But, according to the Independent, Whatever steps forward Mr Musk and his companies make in 2021, it will be difficult for their founder to have a more eventful year than 2020.

Discussing Elon Musk, the Independent cites analysis from CNBCs Jim Cramer, who says, This man is selling technology, and hes talking about fully assisted [Autopilot] and then hes talking about driverless. Hes thinking so much bigger. Thats why this younger generation is willing to give him money. They are saying, Look. Hes Steve Jobs. Who knows what he comes up with next? I want a share of it.

Cramer confessed, I am a big believer in the car, the stock, and the man behind it. The CNBC star also owns a popular media outlet, The Street. And it turns out Tesla is now The Streets Stock of the Year.

The host of CNBCs Mad Money says, I bet Tesla has more upside. But its not just Cramer who voted Tesla as Stock of the Year at The Street. The Wall Street media outletpolled a group of expert writers and editors atThe Street, Real Money, Action Alerts Plus, Stocks Under $10, and Trifecta Stocks.

An impressive12 of 16 panelists voted Tesla as the Stock of the Year. Why? According to The Street, The volatile stock has captured the attention of the world with a meteoric 731% rise year-to-date compared to a 15% increase for the S&P 500 index.The company even had its stock highlighted in Googles globalYear in Search 2020report alongside search terms like coronavirus and election results.

According to The Street, The best comparison for Tesla in 2020 might be to a high school LeBron James. Tesla is dunking on everyone. Since it first crossed $1 billion in revenue in 2013, Tesla has grown revenue at a staggering 52% compound annual growth rate. For context, at that stage in Amazons growth (20002009), its compound annual growth rate was 32%. That means Tesla grew as much in six years as Amazon did in ten.

Article viaEVANNEX. An earlier version of this article was originally published onTesla Oracle.

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Tags: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Elon Musk, stock, Tesla, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Wall Street

Iqtidar Ali Iqtidar Ali writes for X Auto about Tesla and electric vehicles. A true car enthusiast since his childhood, he covers his stories with an utmost passion, which is now guided by the mission towards sustainability.With over 1 decade of website development experience, hes also our IT resource at hand. He also writes about tech stuff atUXTechPlus.comoccasionally.Iqtidar can easily be reached on Twitter @IqtidarAlii(DM open for tips, feedback or a friendly message) or via email: iqtidar@xautoworld.com.