| | | Managing Editor’s Note: One thing’s for certain… Donald Trump moves markets. | | And the added uncertainty around what he will – or won’t – do next all but promises more turbulence ahead. | | That’s why, on June 26, our colleague at The Opportunistic Trader, Larry Benedict, is sitting down to discuss one of his top strategies for profiting from the sort of big market swings we can expect in the weeks and months ahead. |
| | A Future With No Drivers | | By Jeff Brown, Editor, The Bleeding Edge | | |
It’s here! | | Elon Musk and his team at Tesla did it. They managed to get a very early version of its Robotaxi service launched in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. | | | | Source: X @elonmusk | | I’ve been tracking progress daily and wasn’t sure if Tesla would move forward. On June 18, seven Democrats attempted to delay Tesla’s Robotaxi launch until September 1, 2025, when a new Texas state law concerning autonomous driving and driverless ride-hailing operations will go into effect. | | It was an odd effort considering that Google’s Waymo driverless operations began in a geofenced area in Austin earlier this year. And current Texas state law already allows for autonomous vehicle companies to operate their cars anywhere in the state. | | And given those facts, Tesla did precisely what it should have done: it launched. |
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| | Billionaires like David Tepper and Seth Klarman are grabbing millions of shares… Goldman Sachs and Blackstone are in too. This company powers the AI boom – and I’ve waited months for it to hit my buy price. NOW IT HAS. Click Here to See the Ticker >>> |
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| Any Road, Any Time, Any Conditions | | Not surprisingly, all of the mainstream finance and technology media have been critical of Tesla in one way or another. | | Yes, it is a limited launch, which I admit is disappointing. At the moment, it appears only 10–12 autonomous vehicles are in use, and the Robotaxi network is accessible by invitation only. It is unclear when the general public will be able to use it. | | But, just have a look at this: | | | | Source: X | | Do you notice anything different in the video above? | | There is no one in the front seat behind the wheel. There is no safety driver. Tesla has only put a “safety” passenger in the front passenger seat to monitor the rides. No other tech firm has launched a commercial driverless ride-hailing service without a safety driver in the front seat. | | Not satisfied yet? How about how it handles driving at night? | | | | Source: X | | No problem at all. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my Tesla drive me around at night, in snowstorms, in heavy rain, at dawn or dusk. It doesn’t matter. On any road. Through construction, around people, you name it. Tesla’s full self-driving technology just works, no matter the road and no matter the conditions. | | The reviews on X have been the opposite of the media. There have been pretty much nothing but positive and excited reviews about the Robotaxi launch. And these posts are representing reality, not bias. | | But there are a couple of things that almost everyone is missing about the launch. It’s surprising that no one is connecting the dots. | | Cautious Doesn’t Mean Unconfident | | The first is that the cars used in the Robotaxi launch are production vehicles. Said another way, they are the same cars that consumers buy from Tesla, with only two small exceptions: | | | | Source: X | | There is the word “Robotaxi” affixed to the side of the car, which we can see above. | | And there is a small screen on the back of the center console facing the passengers in the second row of seats, enabling the passengers to “Start Ride” by pressing the screen and follow the journey on a map to the desired location. | | | | Source: X | | That’s it. No $100,000 lidar and radar sensor arrays necessary. No expensive modifications to install additional computers for self-driving. The word “Robotaxi” isn’t even needed, nor is the extra screen. Anyone with the Tesla app can initiate a ride. | | And it’s because of this, the second point is even easier to understand. | | Because the Robotaxi service is enabled on production vehicles – the same ones we buy – there aren’t just 10–12 Robotaxis on the road right now. | | There are millions of production vehicles with the hardware and software just waiting to be opted in to the Robotaxi network and make some money for Tesla owners and lessees. | | So, it simply doesn’t matter if the launch is a few cars… Or if there is a Tesla employee in the front passenger seat to monitor rides… Or if the Robotaxi service is currently geofenced… Or if it isn’t open to the general public yet. | | Tesla is just being cautious, as it should be. There are literally NGO’s funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars hiring people to protest Tesla and damage its property. I’d be cautious too… | | But the part that I found most humorous about the launch and was also missed by most, was the $4.20 flat fee for taking a fully autonomous ride. | | What’s up with that? Why such a crazy low fare to experience the future of public transportation? Is it somehow linked to the geofenced area that Robotaxis are currently operating in? | | No, nothing like that. |
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| | When Trump’s tariff announcements crashed the markets on April 3, most investors panicked. Meanwhile, anyone who followed Larry Benedict’s trade alert that morning could have pocketed a quick $597, $1,340, even $2,010 (or MORE) by 4 p.m. the same day. All thanks to Larry’s secret calendar of 52 pre-scheduled opportunities he’s calling “Trump’s 24-Hour Profit Windows.” The next “24-hour profit window” opens THIS WEEK. If you’d like to see Larry’s strategy in action, get the ONE and only ticker you need… and grab your free calendar of “Trump’s 24-Hour Profit Windows” before it’s too late… Click here to reserve your spot for an exclusive “how to” interview with Larry THIS Thursday, June 26, at 2 p.m. ET. |
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| The Secret to a $4.20 Ride | | It’s Musk taking a strong jab at the haters from years ago. Check this post out: | | | | Source: X | | Back in August of 2018, Tesla’s stock was deeply undervalued – a point I argued strongly back in April 2018 when I first pounded the table to buy Tesla stock. | | Musk was frustrated that Wall Street simply wasn’t understanding the vision of Tesla and what it was building, so much so that he was exploring taking Tesla private… at $420 a share. | | There were cries of stock price manipulation, that Musk should be removed as CEO, that he really hadn’t secured the funding, etc. | | That’s where the $4.20 flat fee for a ride comes from. | | And it’s a good thing that Musk didn’t take Tesla private. The stock chart says it all… | | | | Tesla Share Price – August 2018 to Present | Source: Bloomberg | | To the stock’s all-time high in December, the share price rose almost 2,000% since Musk’s efforts to take the company private. | | It’s a good thing for investors that he didn’t. Many have made absolute fortunes since 2018. | | So, it may have been on a smaller scale than we wanted or expected, but Tesla has accomplished something huge here. This small, controlled Robotaxi launch isn’t the end. It’s not Musk’s last laugh. It’s just the beginning… | | | | Jeff | | |
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| | | Something very special is happening right now in the world of high tech. |
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| | | Artificial intelligence has reached its “Gutenberg Moment”… |
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| | | We’re on the fast track towards manifested AI… |
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