Tesla CEO Elon Musk made headlines on Tuesday for tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private. A sell-off on Friday wiped out gains for the week and left US stocks modestly lower for the week. In part due to a strengthening dollar, international stocks fared worse and are now down 4.2% for the year, widening the gap with US stocks to over 11%. The Turkish lira hit an all-time low as leadership resists traditional monetary policy such as raising rates and looks to avoid assistance from the IMF. President Trump added to the decline by doubling steel and aluminum tariffs with Turkey at least partly in response to the detention of an American pastor. European stocks were lower on fears of contagion.
Weekly Returns
S&P 500: 2,833 (-0.3%)
FTSE All-World ex-US (VEU): (-2.1%)
US 10 Year Treasury Yield: 2.87% (-0.08%)
Gold: $1,212 (-0.1%)
EUR/USD: $1.141 (-1.4%)
Major Events
Our Take
On Tuesday, Telsa CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he was considering taking the company private at a price of $420 and added “funding secured”. The stock initially rose about 11% and has since surrendered a little over half of those gains as no details have emerged on where the funding would actually come from. It entered the weekend at a 15% discount to the $420 level, suggesting significant doubt from the investment community.
