Tesla slides as Musk’s ‘America Party’ heightens investor worries
(Reuters) — Tesla shares fell nearly 8% on Monday after CEO Elon Musk’s plans to launch a new U.S. political party reignited concerns about his commitment to the company’s future as it struggles with declining sales.
Musk unveiled the ‘America Party’ over the weekend after a public dispute with President Donald Trump on the tax-cut and spending bill. Trump, once an ally of Musk, called the latest idea “ridiculous”.
Trump had threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk’s companies receive after their feud erupted into an all-out social media brawl in early June, wiping off $150 billion in Tesla’s market value in a single day. Musk’s political move comes days after Tesla posted a second straight drop in quarterly deliveries, pressuring its stock which has lost 35% since hitting a record high in December and is the worst performing among the ‘Magnificent Seven’ this year.
The company is set to lose more than $80 billion in market valuation if current losses hold, while traders are set to make about $1.4 billion in paper profits from their short positions in Tesla shares on Monday.
Lack of new US power capacity could double blackouts by 2030
(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.
Trump Media launches global streaming platform with Newsmax
(Reuters) — Trump Media &Technology Group launched its TV streaming platform, Truth+, globally on Monday, featuring the cable channel Newsmax to support the company’s expansion.
The move also allows conservative news outlet Newsmax, which went public in March, to increase its presence outside the United States.
Trump Media said users can now access streaming channels and on-demand video through Truth+ apps on iOS, Android, web, and connected TV platforms, including Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.
The company, which operates the social media platform Truth Social, began beta testing the global rollout of Truth+ in late June.
Trump Media said it would continue to beta test the streaming technology and collect user feedback as the rollout progresses.
Shares of Trump Media &Technology Group rose about 0.6% at $19.06, while Newsmax shares fell 2.6% to $14.65 in morning trading.