 Tesla Factory | Image: Tesla Tesla plans to increase its capital expenditures for 2022 from the $5B-$7B forecasted in April to $6B-$8B. The increase is part of several new disclosures Tesla reported in its Q2 10Q filing with the SEC. Tesla said the $1B spending increase would help to ramp up its factories, develop new batteries, and finance other projects. CEO Elon Musk has previously referred to Tesla’s new factories near Berlin, Germany, and Austin, Texas, as “money furnaces.” More: - Tesla disclosed it lost $170M on its Bitcoin investment and earned $64M from converting its Bitcoin to fiat.
- In its Q2 earnings report, Tesla said it sold about 75% of its Bitcoin holdings, worth about $936M; the same amount was worth about $2B at the end of 2021.
- Tesla also shared it has received a subpoena from the SEC seeking information about the company’s compliance with a 2018 agreement to settle accusations of securities fraud.
- In 2018, Musk tweeted he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 per share, but the transaction ended up not happening.
- Tesla also disclosed that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had issued a cause finding that “closely parallels” complaints by California’s civil rights agency, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).
- In February, the DFEH revealed it found evidence of discrimination against Black workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory.
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The U.S. Energy Department announced Monday that it would extend a $2.5B loan to the General Motors and LG Energy Solutions joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC. The department will provide the conditional loan from its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program. Ultium intends to use the proceeds to construct its lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plants in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan. More: - This is the first loan for a battery manufacturing plant under the vehicle program.
- The program had earlier issued loans to Tesla, Ford, and Nissan prior to 2010, after which no new loans were granted.
- Approximately 5,000 high-tech jobs will be created at the new facilities, according to Ultium.
- Construction of the three facilities is estimated to cost $7B, with the Tennessee plant set to open next year, followed by the Michigan plant in 2024.
- A fourth plant is likely to be added.
- Over $35B is expected to be spent by GM through 2025, enabling it to build 1 million electric vehicles annually in North America.
Zoom out: - President Joe Biden’s goal to have 50% of U.S. vehicles run on electric or plug-in hybrid power by 2030 has sparked the development of electric vehicles and batteries in North America.
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 Unfinished apartment buildings at the site of a China Evergrande Group development in Beijing, January 2021. |Image: BLOOMBERG China plans to launch a bailout fund of up to 300B yuan ($44B) to assist property developers struggling with crippling debt that has impacted the real estate sector in the country. According to a state bank official, the fund will initially have 80B yuan ($12B) through support from the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). Other banks are expected to add to the fund with the goal of raising up to 200B yuan ($30B) to 300B yuan ($44B). More: - State-owned China Construction Bank is expected to contribute 50B yuan ($7B) to the fund.
- The fund is expected to support at least a dozen property groups by reviving stalled projects, buying developers’ bonds, issuing loans, or taking equity stakes in the companies.
- Shares in China’s largest property developers rose following reports that the government would create the bailout fund.
- The Hang Seng Mainland Properties index, which tracks ten of China’s largest Hong Kong-listed real estate companies, rose as much as 5.4% in trading on Monday.
- Trading in shares of some of the index’s largest companies, like China Evergrande Group and Shimao and Sunac, had been suspended in recent months due to the companies’ liquidity crisis.
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Ifo institute’s Business Climate Index fell to its lowest level since June 2020, as Germany deals with heightened energy prices and the threat of gas shortages. The index fell from 92.2 points in June to 88.6 points in July. The news coincided with Russia’s announcement today to limit Nord Stream 1 gas supply to 20% capacity. More: - A third of Germany’s gas supply comes from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
- The pipeline was reopened last week following a 10-day maintenance shutdown, albeit at only 40% capacity.
- It was announced earlier today that the capacity had been further lowered, bringing the daily supply of gas from Gazprom to 33 million cubic meters.
- According to Gazprom, the supply cuts are caused by turbine availability at its compressor station; however, a spokesperson for the German economy ministry said “no technical reason” was given.
- European politicians say Russia could cut off gas supplies this winter, which would plunge Germany into recession.
- Last week, the German government gave energy company Uniper a $15.3B bailout in exchange for a 30% stake, saving the company from bankruptcy.
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 Lufthansa airplanes | Image: AFP Employees represented by the Ver.di labor union are set to go on a one-day strike over pay disputes with Lufthansa. The staff walkout is expected to lead to significant flight cancellations and delays, as the majority of the staff expected to walk out are employed in critical ground operations such as aircraft towing, refueling, maintenance, cargo loading, and dispatch. Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Berlin airports will be affected by the strike, which runs from early morning hours Wednesday to the following day. More: - The union is asking for a 9.5% pay increase for its 20,000 members, which amounts to a monthly wage increase of $368 (€350).
- In response, the airline agreed to a $153 (€150) monthly pay hike until the end of this year, after which it intended to add $102 (€100M) more in monthly wages along with a 2% increase from mid-next year, conditional upon Lufthansa’s financial performance.
- Ver.di rejected Lufthansa’s offer as it fell short of its demands in light of the 8.2% inflation rise in June.
- Both sides are set to meet for renegotiations on Aug. 3 and 4.
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Barclays Bank has disclosed terms to buy back up to $17.6B of securities it sold in breach of U.S. regulations. Earlier this year, the bank revealed it sold more than the agreed limit of a range of complex structured and exchange-traded notes. Barclays sold 75% more than the $20.8B limit allowed by U.S. regulators. The bank said the buy-back or rescission offer would start on Aug. 1 and be open for 30 U.S. business days. More: - Barclays did not share how much the repurchases would cost in total; however, under U.S. law, the buyers of the notes could demand Barclays repurchase the securities at the original price plus interest.
- Barclays will compensate both current and past holders of the notes; more than 3,000 securities were affected by the error.
- Barclays is expected to set aside up to £1B ($1.2B) in litigation and conduct charges to cover the costs of the error.
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Quick Hits - Super Coffee, the No. 3 ranked bottled coffee brand in the U.S. behind Starbucks and Dunkin', is replacing the negatives with only positive ingredients.*
- Content insights platform Chartbeat was acquired by investment firm Cuadrilla Capital. Chartbeat will continue to operate independently and aims to expand its business beyond providing traffic analytics to publishers. All 60 Chartbeat employees are expected to stay with the company. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. NOTE: Inside.com's founder and CEO, Jason Calacanis, is an investor in Chartbeat.
- The NFL has launched its own streaming service called NFL+ for $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. The platform will offer out-of-market preseason games and mobile device access to live local and primetime regular season and postseason games.
- On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit in a Maryland federal court against a few poultry producers in the country, including Cargill, Sanderson Farms, and Wayne Farm. The lawsuit alleges that poultry producers have been using anti-competitive practices in a bid to keep wages low at their poultry processing plants. The lawsuit is seeking $84.8M in restitution on behalf of the workers. Later in the day, Cargill and Wayne-Sanderson Farms agreed to an $85M settlement.
- Intel formed a strategic partnership with Taiwanese chip design firm MediaTek Inc. The former is set to produce chips for MediaTek through Intel Foundry Services, which launched last year.
- Redwood Materials Inc. is set to invest $3.5B to establish a battery materials factory in northwest Nevada.
- When you align headless CMS with a modern DAM and analytics, you can serve personalized content that keeps people coming back.*
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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