A great deal of speculation exists in any capital market, and investors are easily gulled by glib-talking charlatans like Musk. When asset prices are rising due to very low yields on securities like government bonds, investors look for higher-yielding assets - and few are higher-yielding than stocks that are little more than empty hype. We can recall that companies such as WorldCom, WebVan, Northpoint Communications, Pets.com, and so many other companies evaporated the moment economic reality made itself felt. The gullibility of investors is legendary and goes all the way back to the very first limited-liability joint-stock companies (remember the Dutch tulip craze, and the South Sea bubble).

Sensible investors, conversely, ignore silly hype and breathless babble about why a particular company "must" continue to grow forever, and look at the fundamentals. Tesla's fundamentals were always terrible, so only the empty-headed, cynical, and opportunistically-inclined invested in the stock. And these people deserve the huge losses they are currently experiencing - and will continue to experience.