God these gloom and doom guys are annoying.
Marc Faber, especially.
It’s almost like he gets off on sharing bad news, even if there isn’t actually any bad news to share.
Of course, I get it. That’s his shtick.
What makes Marc Faber so successful is his ability to not only make a ton of money, but also to scare the shit out of people. He’s like the kid in elementary school who shows his classmates their dead tadpoles, and does so with a grin.
That being said, he is a very smart person who’s built quite an empire over the years. So who am I to doubt the great Marc Faber?
Faber’s Flub
In a recent interview with CNBC, Faber reminded us of what we already know: Central banks have increased the flow of money, but the global economy is not particularly healthy.
On this, I agree with Faber. Just because stocks have rallied doesn’t mean the economy is particularly stable. And of course we should all prepare for even the worst of all possibilities, anyway. That’s just common sense.
That being said, Faber’s recent comments about Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are way off base.
In his CNBC interview, Faber also said the following about Tesla …
What they produce can be produced by Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Nissan. Anybody in the world can make it eventually, at much lower cost and probably much more efficiently.
If anybody in the world could produce what Tesla has produced, why haven’t they?
I’ll tell you why …
Because the dinosaurs who once ran these major car companies never had any interest in selling electric cars. But Musk did. And once he proved that an electric car didn’t have to be a glorified golf cart, everyone else started paying attention.
Don’t think for a second that GM, Nissan, or Mercedes would have any interest in electric cars had it not been for Tesla building an electric car that the masses desired.
Yes, the big car companies absolutely could’ve made electric cars at a lower cost and possibly in a more efficient manner. But again, they chose not to. And even while companies like Nissan, GM, and Mercedes craft quality electric vehicles today, they’ll never be able to get Tesla out of the picture at this point.
Just like Apple Did
Tesla may not be a major player in the world of auto manufacturing, but it’s absolutely one that will continue to build electric cars right alongside the rest of them.
Much like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Tesla has built a loyal customer base that will happily wake up at 4:00 am to stand in line in order put $1,000 down on a new car that won’t even be built for two years. That’s dedication. That’s commitment. And that’s what will ensure Tesla is not going to zero, as Faber recently suggested.
Even in the worst-case scenario, where the company could no longer survive on its own (which is highly doubtful), the framework on which it has built its operation is insanely valuable. Any signs of of weakness, and it would be snapped up in a second. Although at this point, with the Gigafactory now operational, the only company that could likely afford Tesla is Apple. And of course, that’s another whole crazy, conspiracy of hopes and dreams that would explode the heads of so many tech geeks across the globe.
So what’s the takeaway?
- In regards to the economy, Faber is probably right that the proverbial poop is going to hit the fan a lot sooner than most folks would care to admit.
- Regardless of how bad the economy gets, Tesla is now a mainstay in the auto market, and it sure as hell isn’t going to zero.
No matter how badly Marc Faber wants to watch a nuclear Armageddon from the comfort of his own bunker, giggling like a school girl who just saw a penis for the first time, it’s important to understand that Faber’s tales of chaos and destruction will never be as bad as he makes them out to be.
Faber’s a smart guy, but like Nigella Lawson’s “snowflake brownies,” his analysis always requires just a pinch of salt.
