See this yet?

That’s a man in over his head.

More precisely, that’s Elon Musk, the Tesla Motors (TSLA) CEO, space pioneer and media icon, sporting Amber Heard’s lipstick print on his right cheek like a brand.

Heard has acted in movies like Pineapple Express and The Rum Diary but is better known for her tumultuous not-quite-two-year marriage to Johnny Depp, which she exited in January with $7 million of Depp’s money. The divorce settlement backtracked on allegations of domestic abuse Heard made during the acrimonious proceedings.

Everyone is happier now, obviously, including Depp. Although no one is probably quite as besotted as Tesla’s shareholders, who are valuing a car maker bleeding buckets of operating cash at $50 billion.

That’s more than the market cap of Ford (F) and only a shade below that of General Motors (GM).  Ford generated $14.5 billion of operating cash flow last year, including $6.4 billion from making autos. GM had operating cash flow of $16.5 billion, including $14.3 billion from autos.

GM now offers an electric car with much of the Tesla Model S performance for not much more than half the Tesla’s price. Even as Tesla rolls out its own mass-market entry (at great up-front expense) later this year, its luxury lead faces a mass assault within two or three years by the likes of Audi, Honda and Volkswagen. These are companies known for their engineering and craftsmanship and in a good way, unlike Tesla.

So Musk and Tesla are likely to wreck spectacularly down the road. What’s the harm of some quality time in the company of a dangerous starlet in the meantime? Romantic complications are a classic business performance risk. But, given his record, Musk might as well enjoy himself while he can.

Here’s the thing: as great a money sink as Musk is, he is an even better salesman. Musk has recruited a legion of true believers to invest a fortune in his loss-making enterprise. That all those rapidly proliferating stock certificates are now valued at $50 billion in the aggregate is his doing.

Musk remains Tesla’s most valuable asset, and in that sense the Heard smooch heard around the globe only builds the would-be Ironman’s aura. The mystique will be deployed in the usual spate of product announcements to feed the hype machine, from Model 3 updates to rumblings about electric pickups and semis.

Meanwhile, short interest in the stock is a hefty 27% of float and every criticism I’ve made so far is common knowledge. Can short interest go any higher with the share price up 44% year-to-date? Are there enough cash-wielding masochists out there?

The share price going higher seems a likelier outcome in the near term, simply because it never made sense in the first place. Tesla is a classic manana stock sustained by promises of a bright future right around the corner, and these are notoriously hard to take down because humans have a near limitless capacity for self-deception.

Rich foreigners with billions to burn and an interest in self-driving cars are no different. So in addition to all their other worries short-sellers must now wonder whether the recent open-market acquisition of a 5% Tesla stake by China’s Tencent Holdings (TCEHY) is the last such transaction.

Other reasons to lean long near-term: financing remains plentiful and cheap, the bull market in equities is very much alive and the short sellers, while frustrated, have not yet begun to run scared. Also, Tesla will have relatively little competition for the next couple of years. The Bolt could have given Musk’s cult second thoughts, but it’s not selling well. It’s a Chevy, for crying out loud. Also, GM’s CEO doesn’t have 1.3 million Instagram followers.

I don’t think Tesla’s joyride has reached its high point just yet, and am betting accordingly by means of a call options spread in our model portfolio. You can buy the Nov. 17, 2017 $270 call for $56.55 today, while selling a $370 call with the same expiration date for $14.80. The net cost of this spread is $41.75, or $4,175 per the 100-share minimum options contract. The max per share gain is $28.55, or 68% on the cost of the recommended spread. The maximum loss is, of course, total. Breakeven is near $312, just 1% above the current price.

But if the stock does ever start to implode, there will be a ton of money to be made by tracking the unwind. And perhaps Amber Heard shifting her attention elsewhere will be the turning point. I trust her instincts.