
Wall Street punishes Tesla as Musk starts an anti-Trump political party: 'Off the rails'
Shares in the EV maker slid as much as 7 percent in Monday's pre-market trading, just days after Musk revealed he's launching a new political party, the 'America Party,' and reigniting his feud with former boss President Donald Trump.
'Investors are worried about two things,' Neil Wilson, a UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said. 'One is more Trump ire affecting subsidies and the other, more importantly, is a distracted Musk.'
The Tesla CEO, who once led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, called out the administration again over its recently-passed 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.'
Musk has critiziced the sweeping package for its projected $5 trillion price tag, that is likely to massively increase the federal deficit.
He said it is in response to the recently-signed 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' which is expected to add an estimated $3 trillion to $5 trillion to the federal deficit.
'What the heck was the point of DOGE if he's just going to increase the debt by $5 trillion,' Musk posted on X.
President Trump fired back at his former advisor on his own platform, Truth Social.
'I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely "off the rails," essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,' the President wrote.
Until recently, Musk had promised to retreat from politics and refocus on Tesla.
That pledge sent shares soaring in May, with investors hopeful the company could finally stabilize after months of slumping EV sales and missed product deadlines.
This is an important year for Tesla. Automotive industry analysts have been worried about EV sales because the Republican bill ends the tax credit handed to EV consumers.
Meanwhile, the company is rolling out its long-delayed self-driving technology, with the first automonous vehicles reaching Texas roads in late June.
But investors have watched as tensions between Trump and Musk, two men who forged an improbable political coalision in the 2024 Presidential election, cratered that once sky-high stock price.
In late June, Musk said the Republican tax bill would send the country into 'DEBT SLAVERY,' vowed to bankroll primary challenges against Trump-endorsed candidates.
At the time, Trump hit back with a series of threats, suggesting the federal government could launch investigations into Musk's companies.
Tesla's stock price has plunged twice, largely due to his increasingly heated rhetoric against his former political ally
Over the weekend, Musk said he created a new political party - but the businessman would have to file paperwork with elections officials
He even hinted at deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa.
That clash sent Tesla's stock on a similar downward trajectory.
Monday's market drop mirrors the fallout from that earlier spat, with shares ultimately ending that day down more than 5 percent.
Still, analysts aren't concerned. They believe investors have gotten used to this type of price fluctuation.
'For Tesla investors, volatility is a way of life,' Bret Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro, told DailyMail.com.
'While the path has been bumpy, it's been rewarding, with Tesla still sporting a market cap of almost $1 trillion.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
Lack of new US power capacity could double blackouts by 2030, says Energy Department
July 7 (Reuters) - U.S. power outages could double in five years if suppliers fail to add capacity during peak demand, the Department of Energy said on Monday. "Blackouts could increase by 100% in 2030 if the U.S. continues to shutter reliable power sources," DOE noted in a report on grid reliability and security. It cited green policies of the Biden administration as a major reason for the retirement of power plants and the delay in approving their replacements. The gap between electricity demand and supply is widening, particularly as artificial intelligence drives the need for more power-hungry data centers, it added. The department said it expects 209 gigawatts of new electricity generation to be added by 2030 to replace 104 GW of plant retirements, but only 22 GW of the new energy will come from power sources that provide stable and continuous power supply, raising outage risk in several regions.


Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Reuters
Vistra gets 20-year extension for its Ohio power plant
July 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear regulator has allowed utility Vistra (VST.N), opens new tab to extend the operation of its Perry nuclear power plant by an additional 20 years through 2046, the company said on Monday. The company is currently operating under its initial 40-year license and had submitted its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for renewal in 2023. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects electricity consumption to hit record highs in 2025 and 2026, fueled by surging demand from data centers supporting Big Tech's AI growth. The 1,268-megawatt Perry facility is the last of Vistra's six nuclear reactors to secure a license extension, enabling all of them to operate for a total of 60 years.

South Wales Argus
32 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Trump announces 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea
The tariffs are set to go into effect on August 1. Mr Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries. US President Donald Trump waves to the media after exiting Air Force One (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase tariffs. 'If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,' Mr Trump wrote in the letters to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. The letters were not the final word from Mr Trump on tariffs, so much as another episode in a global economic drama in which he has placed himself at the centre. His moves have raised fears that economic growth would slow to a trickle, if not make the US and other nations more vulnerable to a recession. But Mr Trump is confident that tariffs are necessary to bring back domestic manufacturing and fund the tax cuts he signed into law last Friday. He mixed his sense of aggression with a willingness to still negotiate, signalling the likelihood that the drama and uncertainty would continue and that few things are ever final with Mr Trump. Imports from Myanmar and Laos would be taxed at 40%, South Africa at 30% and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25%. Shoppers browse electric rice cookers imported from Japan and South Korea at a US department store (Nam Y Huh/AP) Mr Trump placed the word 'only' before revealing the rate in his letters to the foreign leaders, implying that he was being generous with his tariffs. Mr Trump still has outstanding differences on trade with the European Union and India, among other trading partners. Tougher talks with China are on a longer time horizon in which imports from that nation are being taxed at 55%.