Tesla We just heard that George Soros about the dip bought the dip pretty heavily in the fourth quarter of 2022, which what's interesting about that is that's when Tesla was getting smashed as people were tax loss harvesting. Tesla was just going lower and lower and lower every day. basically going into Q4 And what did we just find out? Well, it turns out that George Osoros and George and the Soros fund management scooped up 242 399 shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter, they increased their position uh, roughly a 270 percent. Uh, that's incredible, bringing the funds total Holdings to 332 000.

That's remarkable. That means they went uh from about 90 000 shares to about 332. That's remarkable. That's about a 3.6 x.

Now that's amazing. During the quarter. Uh, the fund also bought 500 000 shares of Kathy Woods Arc K which we know did very well in January of 2020. So what a what a well-timed bet on uh getting back into Uh basically Tech year to date Arc K is up 30 also unloaded his position in Zoom video ended up acquiring 83 million shares of Peloton.

He also what took a stake in Carvana which is on the edge of bankruptcy and a stake in Lift That One Lyft and Uber Well, Uber did well after earnings, but Lyft was down about 30 percent after earnings. So uh, maybe not the best uh position right there. smaller stake in Silvergate Capital, smaller stake in Microstrategy also took stake in Square which is similar to Uh What uh, Blacks Bridgewater capital Did in Ray Dalio taking taking heavy positions into Financial firms. but this big dip buying in Tesla Pretty dang impressive.

He also flattened his position in Etsy and Disney but on the topic of EVs and Teslas guess what? Toyota just did specifically Toyoda. The reason I say Toyota is because the now ex-ceo well come. April ex-ceo of Toyota named Mr Toyoda with a D was a big fan of focusing on hybrids, suggesting that electric vehicles solely pure electric vehicles were not necessary for a green future. Instead, the best form of a green future is already here.

and it's hybrids. Like the Toyota Prius says Mr Toyota that you don't actually need purely electric vehicles because the greenest form is having a smaller battery and actually an internal combustion engine vehicle with a battery train as a battery EV powertrain inside as well. Which is really interesting thing because the amount of components and costs that go into hybrid vehicles is substantially higher than just a pure EV vehicle. Because you have one less entire system and a hybrid, you have both an EV platform and an internal combustion engine system in the gas tank.

In an EV, you only have one of those now, albeit you do have a larger battery and so Mr Toyota has doubled down on this idea that hybrids are the way of the future for the company Toyota and that the Toyota Motor Corporation will not be purely focused on electric vehicles. This is also by the way, a company that has been anti-autonomous driving. they've been a big proponent of. Look, we'll give you Lane keep assist Uh Lane departure alerts maybe even adaptive cruise control.

But are we really heavily going to invest in autonomous driving? No, we just want the driver to be able to drive a hybrid and give them some support. Services That's been the big goal for Toyota And guess what? Sales have fallen off a cliff. Toyota Sales have been declining and declining and declining. And so what has just happened? Well, Toyota has decided to get rid of their old school mindset.

CEO and in April the old school CEO Mr Toyota will be replaced effective. April Koji Sato will be taking over from Mr Toyota And a Koji suggests that Toyota needs to undergo a drastic change And guess what they're going to focus on? Oh, Pure Electric Vehicles. Yes, that competition for Tesla is coming and these Pure Electric vehicles will come first to the Lexus brand, which is obviously the more expensive, uh, portion of the Toyota Motor Company. And don't worry, if you're excited for an electric vehicle, you don't have to wait long.

You only have to wait until 2026 to get your Toyota electric vehicle because that's when the electric vehicle specialized manufacturing platform will be available from Toyota. Now Obviously, so far, what we've been seeing from Toyota has been relatively unlikely to succeed given not only the evidence of declining sales, but also the fact that I think it's pretty damn obvious that people want more autonomy in their vehicles not less, and people want more electric, not more hybrid. But then again, Byd is also doubling down on the hybrid platform. but they're also doubling down on the uh, uh, the EV platform.

So Byd is going with the both approach. and finally, Toyota is realizing they're getting the message from consumers that no, no, EV is the way to go. You know what's crazy about this before we talk about Tesla and the Union. What's crazy about this is there was actually a piece in the Wall Street Journal last month.

Yeah, yeah, look at this. look at this last. I Have it here last month. Uh, Toyota Chief says they're part of the Silent Majority and so the President Mr or the the CEO and President Mr Toyo da questions whether electric vehicles should be pursued exclusively and says that his company is part of the Silent Majority, whether it's really okay to have a single option.

And so in other words, Mr Toyota was was convinced that the future is basically hybrids like hydrogen pyrod cars combined with gas. Uh uh, and and hybrids combined. That's a battery electric vehicles combined with gas. Uh, so basically and then probably hydrogen and EV right? That would be your sort of other hybrid.

Uh, but anyway, Mr Toyota was this big believer of, well, we don't think you only need one platform of only battery electric vehicles. and basically they've been. uh, they've been super anti EVs And it's interesting how within a month of this Wall Street Journal article, this guy is getting the ax kind of crazy. But what's also kind of crazy is specifically what just happened at Tesla and the letter that was sent to Elon Musk as well as ads that are being distributed via leaflets and websites from employees at Tesla Buffalo Yes, apparently the Valentine's Day gift is yes, of course the 69 off coupon code.

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But what do you have here? You have employees now. Distributing Roses are Red Violets are blue. Forming a union starts with you. Yes, employees at the Buffalo facility in for Tesla New York are apparently a group of about 800 or or part of a group of about 800 labelers for the full self driving system for Tesla So basically they label.

Okay, yes, hey, we think this is a stop sign. Okay, we think this is a traffic light. Yes, this is a or that is a car or that is a pedestrian right? and uh Elon Musk back in 2021 talked about the future. Holy Grail of Uh AI was really Auto labeling that you could feed data into a computer and the AI would Auto label and then really all you need is humans to confirm.

Is this absolutely yes a stop sign or is this a yield sign right? And so you have people confirming Yes, Yes, yes, no, no, no right. And apparently the individuals are so frustrated working for minimum wages starting at Uh or starting pay of 19 per hour Identifying objects: Individuals at Tesla Buffalo have gotten so frustrated that they can't get snow days when they want them and that they feel like they're being treated like robots. although they did take a job pushing a button. that and now they feel monitored and uh, feel like they can't take bathroom breaks when they want to take bathroom breaks.

That apparently they are trying to start a union now. remember Tesla has about a hundred thousand people Tesla has been pretty anti-union so far if you can say that. Uh, there have been rumors that individuals who've suggested unionization have just been straight fired. Uh, apparently a Tesla shut down a slack channel from this.

Buffalo New York group when they aired grievances about snow days and now they have a Discord server where they talk together and and strategize about forming a union. Uh, Tesla has Uh and Elon Musk have suggested that they're not anti-union They just question, why would you pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? That's something Elon Musk has said in the past and uh, and it's It seems like Elon Musk has also been pretty anti-unionization for essentially this idea that unions only support Democrats and that you don't have unions who also support Republicans. Of course this could be hyperbole from Elon Musk but let's just put it this way: individuals at Tesla Buffalo are either going to get fired or they'll maybe be able to pull off forming a union. now.

the way this works in America is: if the majority of workers for a company, potentially a specific portion of a company want to unionize, then they can file. They can vote. And if the majority of those employees vote for a union, then they can petition the labor board and force the corporation to recognize that. Union But before that, the employer has the option to recognize the union.

And so if the employer has the option to recognize a union, the employer could say no thanks. Not interested in supporting your right to collective bargaining, which is basically being able to go on a strike right and uh and and then demand changes like demand more pay or more sick days or snow days or whatever it is, maybe less monitoring Whatever it is that that you're looking for. Now keep in mind these Auto labelers. They are basically doing the job of a robot now.

I'm not trying to minimize their Humanity like if you're watching this and you're a labeler like yes I I feel for you like I respect you. You're a human and you have human rights. But the reality is you did take a job that in the future will be replaced by a robot. So if you're watching this and you think the Union's gonna protect you, realize that at some point in the future you're going to be replaced.

So I highly encourage you to come up with some kind of education, plan to to or or at least plan to get out of there anyway in the future. But then again, hey, 19 bucks an hour for for a at a starting pay for for labeling. It also seems pretty good. You know I mean I remember starting to work at UH Jamba Juice or Red Robin and I got paid eight bucks an hour now I'm not trying to like go into the past here but like you know, oh that no no I'm not trying to minimize that.

You know on a labeling is is hard is not hard work. I'm sure it is exhausting, especially with the pressures you might get put on you from the company, but you know you're not running around stressed out, freaking out, dealing with customers yes or no on a computer. you know? Okay, it's kind of like maybe that's pretty damn good. but then again, I don't know what pressures y'all are facing.

Uh, so anyway, we'll see what comes out of that. Now there's been a lot of talk about Uh unions in the United Kingdom actually leading to substantially lower productivity. Now now there's obviously there are a lot of studies on unions and the benefits and and cons of unions, but one of the things that I noticed is in this particular piece. Here you have and this is a robo research piece right here.

Uh, and they talk about how labor disputes have led to 467 000 lost working days in November in the Uh United Kingdom That's pretty remarkable. Uh, and this how and they talk about how this really fuels discontent. You know how potentially unions amplify anger within a company and make people more upset and then at the same time, unions could potentially, uh, lead to less working days or lost working days further impeding Supply chains making it harder for, for, you know. basically Society to advance and prevent inflation.

It's kind of interesting. Now, another thing that's kind of interesting is you've got somebody here in the comments saying that go Unionize Starbucks Not Tesla Now you know what's actually really funny about that is one of the reasons that Buffalo New York Tesla is considering unionizing is because apparently a union leader from Starbucks is working with the individuals at Tesla to help them form a union I Kid you not a Starbucks employee, it is reported by Bloomberg a Starbucks employee is helping the Tesla folks try to start a union. So this is obviously leading some people to say hey, this is great You know, spread the Union uh uh ideals and then of course you've got people on the other side saying this is like cancer. Once you start once cell of a union, it spreads everywhere.

at Starbucks it's Amazon It's it's going to be Apple. Next, it's going to be Tesla Who knows. Obviously, Obviously, if you are in a union, you have much more bargaining power for higher wages. But then the question is, how does that affect productivity? Is there a chance you just end up getting fired? Uh, who knows.

It seems like they're taking a big risk, but then again, if you're getting paid 19 to probably what 24 bucks an hour to push a button, maybe you don't care that much about your job anyway. and you're kind of like hey, let's try to unionize and if we can grade if I get fired oh well I would expect. That's probably the stance people are taking. but then again, you know you also look and go.

Tesla's one of the remaining uh or one of the few auto companies I should say other than some of the new ones that that don't have a union, right? you look at a legacy. Auto it's all Union United Auto Workers Union Massive, massive Union in the United States And a lot of people say that the the fact that you have a union is exactly why it's been so hard for Joe Biden to mention the words Tesla or to actually invite Tesla to events. and the only electric vehicle manufacturers electric vehicle manufacturers that get invited to White House events are like Ford and GM and it's only those companies that show up. It's only those companies that get sort of the uh, the support of the president.

Uh, now you know there have been a few mentions of Tesla since uh, you know, first, probably year, uh, there have been zero. There were zero mentions of Tesla from the Biden presidency, uh, and administration, but uh, that's that. Seems to be loosening a little bit now. but uh, we'll see.

you know. I'm curious to know what uh, what your comments are. You know some people obviously? Yeah, you know. Steve Here is saying if Tesla unionizes? goodbye margins? Uh, and yeah, I mean that's entirely possible.

You know what if that does spread and all of Tesla all of a sudden unionizes right? Is that potentially going to lead to factory shutdowns in the meantime, lower margins in the meantime, would it lead to more productivity? or is Elon Musk just gonna go? All right. Thanks unions! You just lit a fire under my ass to build more autonomy and robots to replace your jobs in the first place. I I Have a feeling I know what is going through Elon Musk's mind, but I'll leave that up to your imagination for now.