Hot wheels
Ferrari goes electric
Good morning, throttle jockeys. This is your Stock Market Rundown for June 28th, 2024. Thanks for riding along with me today. Let’s get into gear:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: FUTURISTIC FERRARI
When you think “electric car”, you probably think of a sporty Tesla Model S driven by a tech bro in a hoodie. Or a practical Nissan Leaf with a bespectacled high school chemistry teacher behind the wheel.
What you don’t think of is a cherry-red Ferrari with over 600 horsepower speeding down the Amalfi Coast. But soon, an electric Ferrari will be rolling off the assembly line at a brand-new plant in the automaker’s hometown of Maranello, Italy.
To maintain Ferrari’s exclusive mystique, the company only produces 14,000 cars per year. As a result, the most popular models have a waitlist years long, and would-be purchasers have to earn their place in line by being loyal customers. So, there’s plenty of unmet demand for an all-electric model to satisfy.
Initially founded to build race cars, Ferrari started producing road-legal high-performance sports cars in 1947. Iconic models such as the 250 GT Lusso and Berlinetta coupe turned the iconic “prancing horse” logo into a symbol of performance.
Ferrari was a subsidiary of Fiat for decades, but in 2016, it spun off as an independently-traded public company, in a $9.8 billion IPO. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange—under the appropriate stock symbol RACE.
Ferrari already makes hybrid vehicles, which have garnered rave reviews. So, we can expect their all-electric version to be pretty snazzy, too.
But if you’re planning to spring for Ferrari’s first-ever EV, you’d better be either a tech billionaire or Saudi royalty: it’ll have a price tag of at least €500,000 (over $500K US). Who knew saving the planet could be both expensive, and impractical?
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
A crime ring just busted in Los Angeles laundered millions in drug money by transporting it in backpacks and cereal boxes. Apparently, the prize at the bottom of a box of Fruity Pebbles is a hundred grand in C-notes with a rubber band wrapped around it.
The FDA has authorized menthol-flavored e-cigarettes, so your coworkers can now breathe in minty fresh fumes when you vape nonstop in your cubicle.
Venture capitalists, start your engines. The former chief scientist of Open AI is starting a new company, focused on “creating a safe AI environment”. Does that mean a chatbot I won’t be able to trick into cursing?
Research shows the young and wealthy are skeptical about keeping all their money in stocks and bonds—they’re diversifying into luxury assets like watches, wine, and handbags. Well, a crocodile Hermes Birkin does have an annual appreciation in value that rivals most stocks.
That’s it for the week, dear friends. Enjoy the sunshine this weekend, and I look forward to circling back with you first thing Monday morning. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
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