Elon Musk's Twitter debacle is dragging Tesla down too

Plus: The other windfall profiteers. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a flotation device of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Twitter is [taking Tesla under]( with it. - [Commodities traders]( are raking it in. - There will be [bank layoffs](. - The [dollar bull market]( is over. Musk Throws Good Money After Bad Here’s a little PSA for you: When you need to rescue a drowning person, remember: “Reach or throw, don’t go.” Find a way to save the victim without getting in the water with them. Because unless you have proper equipment and/or are [Larry the Lobster](, that person will just as likely pull you under with them. Which brings us to Tesla and Twitter. Is Twitter drowning? I don’t know. But it’s in over its head, and there’s a rip current. Also [Nazis]( are there. So many Nazis. Elon Musk owns both companies, and in this waterlogged metaphor he is the flailing, panicky arms of our endangered swimmer. He bought Twitter on a lark, then tried to say “JK LOL,” then was forced to put a big slab of his fortune on the line to complete the deal. Since then, he has been putting on a Harvard Business School clinic in how not to run a company. His erratic behavior and increasing chumminess with the extreme right are driving [advertisers]( away. Frantic stunts like “[exposing](” how Twitter wouldn’t publish pictures of Hunter Biden’s genitals aren’t helping. All the while, Tesla is sinking. Its market value, which unbelievably peaked at nearly $1.2 trillion back in April, has been cut in half. It was always overinflated by the magical ether of Musk’s supposed genius. The Twitter debacle has [punctured]( that. And now, Liam Denning writes, Musk could soon gamble [billions more of his remaining Tesla fortune]( to help Twitter. His long-suffering bankers are considering swapping now-unsellable Twitter debt for margin loans backed by Tesla stock. As Liam notes, it’s another headache the electric-car company didn’t need right now. Musk has already made the brand [toxic]( for many would-be buyers, who now have a growing number of options. The more he uses it to keep his new obsession afloat, the more he risks sinking them both. Windfall Burn Aside from Vladimir Putin and his enablers, one of the biggest villains of the Ukraine war has been Big Oil. The industry raked in gobsmacking record profits as crude prices soared, leading to widespread public criticism and calls for [windfall taxes](. Big Oil has been crying itself to sleep at night on its huge pillow, which is made of money. One irony is that oil and gas firms already pay fairly high tax rates. Commodity traders, on the other hand, are also making a mint on the war’s upheaval, but [they pay a pittance in taxes](, writes Javier Blas. These firms would be the new Public Enemy No. 1, if only the public actually knew of their existence. They would argue they’re taking big risks to keep markets functioning in difficult times. Maybe, but they’re sure getting paid handsomely for it. Bank on Job Cuts Wall Street and Silicon Valley have been fighting over talent for years. Now they’re in a competition to see who can cut that talent loose the fastest. Tech is [winning]( this dubious race at the moment. But job cuts have started at Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and more. And Paul Davies warns [the pace could pick up next year]( if the economy weakens just as markets stop being so profitably bonkers. On the bright side, at least we don’t have to worry about bank solvency these days. The term “bank run” keeps getting tossed around, in relation to the travails of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Credit Suisse, FTX and others. But Marc Rubinstein points out these have just been [relatively mild spates of customer withdrawal](, all of which are pleasant afternoon croquet matches compared to the truly ugly bank runs of yore.  Telltale Charts The [dollar bull market appears to be over]( as investors stop being quite so freaked out about everything, writes Isabelle Lee.  Remember Special Drawing Rights? Me neither. But they are the original digital currency, helping the financial system get through different crises for the past 50 years. There are nearly $1 trillion worth of these outstanding now, gathering dust. David Fickling suggests they could be used to help developing countries get [cheap financing for climate-change projects](. Further Reading It’s time to [end the White House’s pandemic emergency powers](. — Mike Bloomberg The GOP must speak out more [forcefully against anti-Semitism](. — Bloomberg’s editorial board [Brexit is turning out worse than expected](, and there’s no reason to expect it to improve. — Clive Crook Fortunately, the Supreme Court looks set to [reject the independent state legislature theory](. — Noah Feldman [Dynamic scheduling hurts workers]( and companies. — Leticia Miranda It’s good [Brittney Griner is home](. Here’s what should happen next. — Stephen Carter [The tripledemic]( doesn’t have to ruin your Christmas. — Lisa Jarvis ICYMI The FTC wants to [block Microsoft’s Activision deal](. Your boss isn’t sure you should be [watching the World Cup at work](. Who’s up for [lab-grown steak](? Kickers Rare [complete plesiosaur fossil]( found in Australia. Let’s use stars to [track down a B-21’s location](. Nearly 60% of young adult Americans [live within 10 miles]( of where they grew up. The best movies of 2022, according to [Variety]( and [the Ringer](. Notes:  Please send lab-grown steak and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022