A long bet is not speculation. Nobody knows whether Tesla is going to fail or not. But since it's an IPO you can 'bet' that is the best price to buy in the long term.
And for me speculation is buying BP's stock.
And for me speculation is buying BP's stock.
And I agree - speculating is buying BP stock. David Barse of Third Avenue even said so the other day on Bloomberg. Third Avenue's ethos is to invest in companies that are "safe and cheap."
Tesla is similar to BP in that you don't really have any indication of what the future will be like. In BP's case it is because nobody knows the future costs associated with the spill and how that will affect their earnings. With Tesla, the company has such a limited operating history with no history of profits that its future.