Investors may be pondering whether it’s a better time to buy Tesla stock than an actual Tesla.

Amid the recent pushback against CEO Elon Musk, who has taken on a high-profile government role, the used car market is being saturated with Teslas at a record pace. According to Reuters, the share of trade-ins marketwide that are recent-model Teslas has more than tripled this year (1.4%) compared with the same time frame in 2024 (0.4%). Meanwhile, the proportion of new-car shoppers considering Teslas has fallen by almost half since November.

Amid reports of Teslas being vandalized, charging stations torched, and dealerships picketed, it’s a tumultuous time for the company and its stock. But some investors are seeing a buying opportunity.

Model Why

“If you read the news, it feels like, you know, Armageddon. I can’t walk past a TV without seeing a Tesla on fire,” Musk said last week during a company all-hands meeting. He suggested that people not sell their holdings, saying Tesla is positioned for a future in autonomous vehicles and robots. “Some people like Cathie Wood at ARK Invest do see the future. So what I’m saying is hang onto your stock,” he said.

The company’s shares have struggled this year, and some investors are seeing a buying opportunity:

• TSLA is down 48% from its record high of nearly $480 per share in December.
• The $13 million Simply Volt TSLA Revolution ETF, which has returned (-41%) this year, saw $3 million in flows year to date, compared with $12 million over a year, per Morningstar Direct.
• A leveraged Tesla fund, the $3.5 billion Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares ETF, which returned (-70%), saw $3.3 billion in inflows year to date and $4 billion over a year.
• An inverse fund, the GraniteShares 2x Short TSLA Daily ETF, is up 76%.
• The average price of a used Model Y has fallen by about 15% over a year, and many are on the market for well under $30,000.

Seeing Red. Musk, the world’s richest man, is a major force in the Republican party, and conservatives like Tesla as a brand more than ever, according to survey data reported by NPR. Last year, the percentage of Republican new-Tesla buyers surpassed Democrats (independents were the highest percentage). Whether Republicans can turn things around for Tesla is unclear, since Democrats overall are 10 percentage points more likely to be interested in buying electric vehicles.

Still, cars aren’t usually an investment — even those bought at a discount generally depreciate. And despite its recent stock tumble, TSLA is still up 44% over a year and 625% over five.

Out with the “E” and in with the “O.”

Some of the industry’s top brokerages are reshaping their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs amid White House opposition to such initiatives. In the latest example, JPMorgan’s internal diversity organization has swapped out “equity” for “opportunity” in an effort to better reflect the program’s goals, according to a memo last week from COO Jenn Piepszak reviewed by Advisor Upside. “The ‘e’ always meant equal opportunity to us, not equal outcomes,” Piepszak said in the memo.

The broader pullback could curtail diversity efforts in the advisor industry where less than a quarter of CFPs are female and more than 80% are white. “We work to reduce barriers, not standards, because we know that when you reduce standards, nobody wins,” Piepszak said, adding that JPMorgan continuously evaluates its programs to make sure they make commercial sense.

Rolling Back

With the name change to DOI come restructuring and cutbacks at the firm. Some of the programs previously managed by JPMorgan’s diversity organization have been integrated into other lines of business including human resources or corporate responsibility, per the memo. Plus, some activities, councils or chapters under the now-DOI may be consolidated, and training sessions will be reduced; the changes were already in the works two years ago when the Supreme Court reversed affirmative action at colleges, the bank said.

“We’ve always been committed to hiring, compensation and promotion that are merit-based,” Piepszak said, adding the company would never turn someone away because of their political association, religious beliefs, or self-identity.

Delicate Dance. DEI programs have become a fine line, as supporters say they help disenfranchised groups achieve greater career success. Opponents argue such efforts are discriminatory and put social agendas ahead of profits. In the case of Edward Jones, the pushback from both sides has it doubling down in some areas of DEI while walking back others:

• Edward Jones plans to achieve 15% people of color and 30% women among financial advisors working in the US and Canada by the end of the year, up from 10% and 24%, respectively, at the end of 2024.
• However, it also recently canceled incentives that rewarded experienced advisors for transferring accounts to women and minority advisors.

While major firms including LPL, Ameriprise, Raymond James, and more have removed DEI sections from their annual reports entirely, Edward Jones has taken a more measured approach, replacing the DEI section with one called “Colleague Engagement.”

Some funds are better than others, and in many cases, a whole lot better.

Morningstar is naming names when it comes to the funds with the worst performance records in dollar terms over the past decade. And some of the saddest track records actually belong to ETFs. Among the 15 funds at the top (or bottom) of the list (depending on your perspective), 13 are exchange-traded funds. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that roster includes plenty of leveraged and sector-specific funds, as well as a few that take short positions.

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