What We're Reading

• What BMW’s China sales say about their economy.  “Xubao” or false reporting; who knew!  Quartz
• Pay your bills or we take your cat (seriously)  TheMoscowTimes
• A $1.65 billion buyout, 300 hours of video uploaded every minute,  300 million hours streaming per day, a “farm” of sorts where prominent studios are paying huge sums to acquire companies that bundle together YouTube channels,  an ever-expanding ad platform, a new premium service (Music Key) and a new marketing strategy aimed at turning YouTube starts into, well true stars.  Aand imagine; YouTube is still an experiment. NYTimes
• Why the middle class isn’t as well off as some would have you believe.  According to IRS data, 99% of American households make less than $388,000 a year, and 95% make less than $167,000 a year. The true middle in terms of income — that is, the cutoff to be in the top 50 percent of earners — is roughly $35,000 a year. Salon (and those middle class jobs are disappearing to automation and outsourcing overseas

We think BMW have positioned themselves as tech leaders to out-rival premium peers such as Tesla, and investors will increasingly be willing to credit this leadership with higher multiples.”

Tesla Motors Inc showed the world that there is demand for a high quality, low energy vehicle, and now it has to face the consequences of its actions. The San Francisco-based company said its mass market car Gen III will require a third production line, and deliveries are expected to start in 2017. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) said the Gen III car will have a base price of $35,000, but total ASP including options would run to $45,000-$50,000.  (just thinking out loud: could it be investors don't care for a discounted car price?  When you go from luxury to discount retailer, what's the reaction?  Add to the the negative cash flow from due to the cost of the third plant)

BMW is building something different from what Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) is offering, and the changes its making to the manufactur