President Biden’s Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigeig, is pressing the White House message that a coast-to-coast network of 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations is needed. To put that in perspective, that 500,000 is nearly three times more than the 168,000 or so old-school gas stations in the country.
Now, a single level 3 EV charger can potentially charge a car battery up to 80% in just 10 minutes. They sure aren’t cheap, though; a single charger can cost as much as $260,000.
In fact, Biden’s entire EV plan, part of his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, has a $174 billion price tag.
For investors in the infrastructure and, specifically, the EV space, that $174 billion is a stiff dose of rocket fuel.
And it couldn’t come at a better time. The potential for all that stimulus comes right as EV stocks are headed much lower – the perfect conditions for turning a beaten-up company into a double-digit winner.
Here’s the play…
EV Stocks Are Getting Crushed… Perfect
Companies like electric automaker Canoo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOEV) had a really strong start in March – GOEV shares rocketed 40% in about a week, and most EV companies were riding high.
Then they fell out of bed. Barron’s reported the basket of EV stocks it tracks declined 14%.
There are a couple of reasons why, and it doesn’t have much to do with fundamentals or future prospects.
Electric cars are “new,” and a lot of investors (foolishly, I’d say) think of them less as long-term investments and more as speculative bets. And, hey, some of them are; I’ll trade some EV companies all day if the S.C.A.N. signals are there.
But, when it’s all said and done, EVs will dominate roads and streets; they’ll be completely mainstream, thanks to economics and environmental concerns, but the fact is EVs aren’t “there” just yet. And, at the moment, investors are feeling a little more skittish, a little more “risk-off” these days, with recent market volatility.
So what we have here is a class of beaten-down stocks primed for an eventual return to old highs and ultimately far beyond
Of all the electric vehicles, I like Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) the best right now, and TSLA stock is definitely going for a discount. You may remember a few months ago when I listed some key levels to look at, and right now, we’re there.
The chart looks really rough and, if you look closely, mighty tempting:
The stock is down nearly 25% from its January all-time highs north of $800 and is trading well below its 50-day simple moving average (MA50), with decent support at $600. But over the past few days it’s broken above the short-term 20-day moving average, which says it could be ready to start the trip back up toward $800.
In other words, this is probably a chance to buy an $800 stock for $660 – not a bad deal at all. Tesla call options are looking expensive right now, at least to buy outright, and I can’t make a specific trade recommendation, but a credit spread could put some extra cash in your pocket on top of the gains you’ll likely get from your TSLA shares.
In this case, you’d buy a TSLA call option one or two strikes below the current price and sell a call option one or two strikes above the current price and pocket a net credit – just make sure they have the same expiration date. You’d maximize your profits if the price shoots past the higher-strike option, which it very well could.
— Andrew Keene
Source: Money Morning