{"id":19418,"date":"2017-11-16T11:38:38","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T16:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.t3live.com\/blog\/?p=19418"},"modified":"2017-11-16T11:55:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T16:55:03","slug":"rolling-stone-tesla-magazine-cover-indicator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/2017\/11\/16\/rolling-stone-tesla-magazine-cover-indicator\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Rolling Stone Jinx Tesla with the Magazine Cover Indicator?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So at 10:45 a.m. yesterday, I got an email with the subject line &#8220;The Most Important Person of Our Generation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It came from Neil Strauss, author of the infamous pick-up artist memoir <em>The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19431\" src=\"http:\/\/www.t3live.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"352\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail.png 352w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-150x115.png 150w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-300x230.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-80x61.png 80w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-220x169.png 220w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-130x100.png 130w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-196x150.png 196w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/neilemail-310x238.png 310w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I know what you're about to ask&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>And I can neither confirm nor deny that I read<i> The Game.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>So, to whom was Neil referring as &#8220;The Most Important Person of Our Generation.&#8221;?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tesla<\/strong> (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, whom Neil just profiled for a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/features\/elon-musk-inventors-plans-for-outer-space-cars-finding-love-w511747\">Rolling Stone cover story<\/a><\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19419\" src=\"http:\/\/www.t3live.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949.jpg 620w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-110x150.jpg 110w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-221x300.jpg 221w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-59x80.jpg 59w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-162x220.jpg 162w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-74x100.jpg 74w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-175x238.jpg 175w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-305x415.jpg 305w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-358x487.jpg 358w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/elon-musk-0b50501d-c829-4634-aaa8-8afbda486949-438x595.jpg 438w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Rolling Stone covers focus on entertainers, followed by politicians and athletes.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at hundreds of Rolling Stone covers going back to 1990 and I found exactly one CEO cover story&#8230; and it was about an even bigger tech icon.<\/p>\n<p>It was the\u00a0October 27, 2011 issue commemorating <strong>Apple<\/strong> (AAPL) founder Steve Jobs, who had died 3 weeks earlier:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19421\" src=\"http:\/\/www.t3live.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"305\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew.jpg 305w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew-110x150.jpg 110w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew-59x80.jpg 59w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew-162x220.jpg 162w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew-73x100.jpg 73w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rolling_Stone-_The_Steve_Jobs_Nobody_Knew-175x238.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 305px) 100vw, 305px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Even in the late 1990's dot-com boom, there wasn't a single tech-focused Rolling Stone cover story, let alone a CEO story.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, this has me thinking about the magazine cover indicator.<\/p>\n<p>The magazine cover indicator says that a dramatic magazine cover story (typically a major business magazine like Fortune or BusinessWeek) can be a contrary indicator.<\/p>\n<p>The most famous example is BusinessWeek's The Death of Equities cover in August 1979, which preceded the biggest bull market known to man.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.financialsense.com\/sites\/default\/files\/users\/u163\/images\/2013\/0201\/03-bottom.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Chart from <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.financialsense.com\/contributors\/chris-puplava\/secular-bear-market-in-stocks-is-over\">FinancialSense.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>So did Rolling Stone &#8216;jinx' Tesla? And the wider world of technology of stocks?<\/p>\n<p>Let's see.<\/p>\n<p>In Neil Strauss email, he said he &#8220;spent the last nine months in and out of his world, working on this profile&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>9 months back from November 15 is February 15.<\/p>\n<p>Let's assume that Rolling Stone spent a month before slating Musk for a cover story.<\/p>\n<p>In January, Tesla traded between $210.96 and $258.46.<\/p>\n<p>It hit $389.61 in September before pulling back to $312.49 when the story hit.<\/p>\n<p>Here's what the stock chart looks like:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19420\" src=\"http:\/\/www.t3live.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1.png 700w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-220x220.png 220w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-238x238.png 238w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-415x415.png 415w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-487x487.png 487w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tesla-elon-musk-rolling-stone-1-595x595.png 595w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Since Tesla's at a bit of a crossroads now, only time will tell if Rolling Stone put in the &#8216;jinx.'<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe I should put it another way.<\/p>\n<p>Only time will tell if Elon Musk marked a top in his ego &#8212; and by extension his Tesla\/Solar City\/Space X juggernaut &#8212; by agreeing to a Rolling Stone cover in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>So we'll see.<\/p>\n<p>But what about technology overall?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/October 27, 2011.\">We know it's been ripping since the election<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>But here's a 20-year monthly chart of the <strong>S&P Technology ETF<\/strong> (XLK):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19422\" src=\"http:\/\/www.t3live.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK.png 700w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-220x220.png 220w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-238x238.png 238w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-415x415.png 415w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-487x487.png 487w, https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/XLK-595x595.png 595w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Let me be clear: the magazine cover indicator should not be mixed up with actual science or rational analysis.<\/p>\n<p>It's mostly valuable to permabears desperate for attention on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>But I can't help but ask: wouldn't it be funny if tech topped out just as Rolling Stone broke tradition to put Elon Musk on the cover?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So at 10:45 a.m. yesterday, I got an email with the subject line &#8220;The Most Important Person of Our Generation.&#8221; It came from Neil Strauss, author of the infamous pick-up artist memoir The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists: I know what you&#8217;re about to ask&#8230; And I can neither confirm nor deny that I read The Game. So, to whom was Neil referring as &#8220;The Most Important Person of Our Generation.&#8221;? Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, whom Neil just profiled for a Rolling Stone cover story: Rolling Stone covers focus on entertainers, followed by politicians and athletes. I looked at hundreds of Rolling Stone covers going back to 1990 and I found exactly one CEO cover story&#8230; and it was about an even bigger tech icon. It was the\u00a0October 27, 2011 issue commemorating Apple (AAPL) founder Steve Jobs, who had died 3 weeks earlier: Even in the late 1990&#8217;s dot-com boom, there wasn&#8217;t a single tech-focused Rolling Stone cover story, let alone a CEO story. And of course, this has me thinking about the magazine cover indicator. The magazine cover indicator says that a dramatic magazine cover story (typically a major business magazine like Fortune or BusinessWeek) can be a contrary indicator. The most famous example is BusinessWeek&#8217;s The Death of Equities cover in August 1979, which preceded the biggest bull market known to man. Chart from FinancialSense.com So did Rolling Stone &#8216;jinx&#8217; Tesla? And the wider world of technology of stocks? Let&#8217;s see. In Neil Strauss email, he said he &#8220;spent the last nine months in and out of his world, working on this profile&#8230;&#8221; 9 months back from November 15 is February 15. Let&#8217;s assume that Rolling Stone spent a month before slating Musk for a cover story. In January, Tesla traded between $210.96 and $258.46. It hit $389.61 in September before pulling back to $312.49 when the story hit. Here&#8217;s what the stock chart looks like: Since Tesla&#8217;s at a bit of a crossroads now, only time will tell if Rolling Stone put in the &#8216;jinx.&#8217; Or maybe I should put it another way. Only time will tell if Elon Musk marked a top in his ego &#8212; and by extension his Tesla\/Solar City\/Space X juggernaut &#8212; by agreeing to a Rolling Stone cover in the first place. So we&#8217;ll see. But what about technology overall? We know it&#8217;s been ripping since the election. But here&#8217;s a 20-year monthly chart of the S&#038;P Technology ETF (XLK): Let me be clear: the magazine cover indicator should not be mixed up with actual science or rational analysis. It&#8217;s mostly valuable to permabears desperate for attention on Twitter. But I can&#8217;t help but ask: wouldn&#8217;t it be funny if tech topped out just as Rolling Stone broke tradition to put Elon Musk on the cover?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19418"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19432,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19418\/revisions\/19432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.t3live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}