(or, Why I never bought Tesla)
Part 2 of 3
Most people think that Godfather III is the worst movie of the Godfather trilogy. I don’t know about that, but in The Godfather III Micheal Corleon told his nephew, “you should never hate your enemy, it clouds your judgment”.
This was a lesson I had to learn in the market.
I last wrote why I bought the company behind the Fisker Karma. If you don’t know what the Karma is it’s because it’s as mythical as a DeLorean. You see, just like the DeLorean, the Karma was the promise of the future and only had a limited production.
The DeLorean is the car that Michael J. Fox drove in the movie Back to Future.
The Karma was an electric car that could also run on gas so it eliminated range anxiety. This was 2008. It was the brainchild of Henrick Fisker who is also the designer of the Aston Martin DB9.
I have always liked cars and wanted to be a race car driver ever since I watched the cartoon Speed Racer as a kid.
This is also why I watch Formula 1 racing (did you know that you can buy a piece of the entire Formula 1 enterprise? Formula 1 was bought by Liberty Media. Ticker symbol: FWONK).
My love of racing is also why I bought Ferrari.
I did not buy “A” Ferrari.
I bought a piece of the whole company when it was spun off from Fiat (Ferrari ticker symbol: RACE).
Because I liked racing, I did not like or respect Tesla. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had seen Tesla cars for years. They were kit cars loved by RadioShack hobbyists who also lived off the grid or recycled their bio-waste. They would retrofit Lotus Elise cars with electric batteries.
It wasn’t enticing.
Clouded by the Tesla origin story, I never even looked into them or noticed their shift. So, I never took advantage of an opportunity in a sector I knew would take off.
To make matters worse, I never bought Apple for similar reasons. I was a PC guy and was convinced that Apple was a cult. My wife never lets me forget that lapse in judgment.
The moral to this story, learn from the mistakes of others because you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself!
Part 3 of 3 will be about Love
Monk Says…
Investing is a game and I teach how to play it. Like Omar said in The Wire, “the game is out there. It’s either play, or get played”.
I recently retired early, and now that I’ve reclaimed my time, I use it to teach financial literacy to the youth, young adults, and the mothers who raise them.
To help spread the message of financial literacy, share this with 3 people:
- Your children/family
- Your good friend
- Your work buddy
Then ask them to give YOU their opinion on this post.
MonkSays.com