Tesla’s stock defied gravity for years. Is Elon Musk’s EV party over?

Tesla’s stock defied gravity for years. Is Elon Musk’s EV party over? 

Tesla’s stock has dropped by nearly half in three months. Even so, investors are still debating whether Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker remains overpriced. The company's market capitalization has dropped 45% since hitting an all-time high of $1.5 trillion on December 17, erasing most of the gains the stock made after CEO Musk helped finance the election victory of U.S.

President Donald Trump. And yet Tesla continues to fetch a valuation far above those of the world’s biggest automotive and technology firms, judging by standard financial metrics. Tesla’s total worth of $845 billion as of Friday's close still tops the next nine most-valuable major automakers combined.  

 

COLUMN-Oil execs head to CERAWeek with a case of Trump buyer's remorse: Bousso 

Energy execs travelling to Houston for CERAWeek conference may have cheered Donald Trump's return, but they are learning that you should be careful what you wish for. This year's conference promised to be a show of force for the fossil fuel sector following the re-election of Trump, whose "drill, baby, drill" slogan resonated with oil and gas companies that felt frustrated by Joe Biden's perceived animosity toward the industry.

Instead, the conference is set to be dominated by talk of Trump's tariffs, sanctions and drive to end war in Ukraine, which together created turmoil in financial markets and clouded the outlook for the global economy and energy prices.

 

Farmers put plans, investments on hold under Trump USDA spending freeze 

Nate Powell-Palm, an organic farmer outside Belgrade, Montana, was relying on a $648,000 grant from USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service to help build a feed mill - an economic lifeline for about 150 area organic grain farmers. But construction is on hold following the Trump Administration's freeze on some agricultural grants and loans as it conducts a broad review of federal spending.

Now, about 500 tons of baled alfalfa sits untouched in stacks in his fields, and a bill from a Colorado equipment manufacturer is past due. Last week, he traveled with a group of farmers to Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers and try to get their frozen USDA grant funding released.