Blackout in Europe! Tesla dominates, SpaceX cell phone satellites (Recap ep283)

In today's recap, Marcello talks about a massive blackout that has plunged much of Europe into darkness, with electricity networks in Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina collapsing under the strain of soaring temperatures reaching 41°C (105.8°F). Meanwhile, Tesla continues to dominate the electric vehicle market, with its stock surging 25.47% over the past five days and an impressive 46.33% over the past three months. The company exceeded Q2 delivery expectations with 443,956 vehicles, further fueled by the anticipated success of the Cybertruck as the best-selling EV pickup in the US. On another front, SpaceX has made a significant leap forward with the launch of over 100 Direct to Cell satellites, paving the way for hundreds more this year and new service offerings from T-Mobile in the US. 

Shares of  Tesla surged +10.20% on Tuesday at  $231.26,  after rising +6.05% on Monday, after the electric vehicle company reported stronger than expected Q2 deliveries. The stock is at its highest level since January.  The Elon Musk-led company delivered 443,956 vehicles, while analysts had expected deliveries of 439,000. The figure shows a -4.8% decline from a year ago, but was +14.8% above Q1 numbers. The stock has risen +23.44% over the past 5 days & +38.79% in the past 3 months. Shares are still down -6.93% in 2024 & -17.35% y/y, with a market cap of $737.53B. 
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party scored historic gains to win the 1st round of France's parliamentary election on Sunday, exit polls showed, but the final result will depend on the July 07th run-off. The RN was seen winning around 34% of the vote, in a huge setback for President Macron who had called the snap election, after his ticket was trounced by the RN in European Parliament elections earlier this month. The RN's share of the vote was comfortably ahead of leftist & centrist rivals, including Macron's Together alliance, whose bloc was seen winning 20.5%-23%. The New Popular Front (NFP), a hastily assembled left-wing coalition, was projected to win around 29% of the vote, the exit polls showed.
Hurricane Beryl barreled toward Jamaica as a powerful Category 4 storm on Tuesday after battering smaller islands in the eastern Caribbean. The unusually early hurricane felled power lines & unleashed flash floods. Beryl, the 2024 Atlantic season's 1st hurricane & the earliest storm on record to reach the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, hit St. Vincent & the Grenadines especially hard. Late on Monday, Beryl was at Category 5 strength, but weakened slightly on Tuesday. The hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (249 kph), is currently located about 485 miles (781 km) east-southeast of the Jamaican capital of Kingston.
Brazil's President Lula da Silva ordered his economic team to comply with the country's fiscal framework & approved suggestions of spending cuts. Brazilian assets had suffered a sell-off in recent weeks, as markets feared fiscal deterioration amid a government reluctance to cut spending, which led to investors' concerns about the government's ability to comply with the fiscal framework approved last year.  Lula approved to cut 25.9B reais ($4.7B) in government spending, which will allow Lula's administration to comply with the fiscal framework next year. The Brazilian real has weakened around 13% vs. the U.S. dollar in 2024, 6% in June alone.
China has unveiled a list of rare earth regulations aimed at protecting supplies in the name of national security, laying out rules on the mining, smelting & trade in the critical materials used to make products from magnets in electric vehicles to consumer electronics. The regulations, issued by the State Council or cabinet over the weekend, say rare earth resources belong to the state & that the government will oversee the development of the industry around rare earths, a group of 17 minerals of which China has in recent years become the world's dominant producer, accounting for nearly 90% of global refined output.