Tesla Sets Price On Novel Model X SUV - $80K -- November 24, 2015

USA Today is reporting:

Tesla Motor's long-awaited Model X, an electric-powered, long-range crossover with upward-opening second-row doors, has been priced at $80,000 before delivery charges.
That puts it $5,000 more than the lowest priced version of the breakthrough sedan that turned Tesla into one of the most closely watched tech companies, the Model S.

Pricing was released Monday in conjunction with a "configurator" for those who have ordered to let them choose their options.

As one might expect since it is larger, the base version of the Model X will be slightly slower than the Model S when it comes to performance. The SUV, which comes with all wheel drive, will clock in at zero to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds, vs. 5.2 seconds for Model S. And because it's bigger, it won't quite have the same range, 220 miles per charge compared to 240 miles.

S&P revises outlook on Massachusetts credit rating. The Boston Globe is reporting:

A major Wall Street bond rating agency is expressing caution about the Commonwealth’s dwindling rainy day fund, lowering its outlook on Massachusetts bonds to negative from stable.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services maintained its AA+ rating for $20.3 billion in Massachusetts general obligation bonds but cited concerns about government spending and the use of emergency funds to plug holes in the state budget over several years.

Biggest news story of the week? Justin Bieber outsells One Direction. The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

In a recent head-to-head sales battle with One Direction, Justin Bieber came out way ahead of his boy-band rivals.

Both acts released albums on Nov. 13, but “Purpose” sold roughly 522,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week, while One Direction’s “Made in the A.M.” sold 402,000 copies during that time, according to Nielsen.

On the day “Purpose” came out, the pop singer performed three back-to-back acoustic shows at the Staples Center arena here. Fans could buy tickets to the event for $22—including a copy of the album and a brief question-and-answer session with the singer.

Fans snapped up 33,000 of the ticket-album combos; a live webcast of the shows likely contributed indirectly to many more sales of the album.

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A Note for the Granddaughters

About six or sever  years ago I was a "full-time" substitute teacher at a middle school in San Antonio. I did that for about three years and would still be doing it if I didn't three granddaughters to take care of.

It is impossible to articulate how obsessed some of the middle school female students were about Justin Bieber. They kept notebooks on him; they knew everything about him, including his shoe size and what he ate for breakfast.

I don't think I've ever consciously / knowingly heard a song by One Direction. I think I might have heard Justin Bieber on more than one occasion, but it would have just been the opening measures.