The Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List Is Out, Plus Tesla Fails To Deliver On A Promise…Again

Enjoy your January 4th hand-crafted Brew!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Sensationalistic and misleading” — Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, lashing out at the Wall Street Journal over a story it published last month that Dalio believes portrayed his hedge fund inaccurately. Dalio added that the story is part of the media’s overall problem with fake news…Facebook, we’re looking at you.

Market Snapshot

  • Close but no cigar—an early surge from the Dow brought it mere breaths away from the fabled 20,000…but then it fell back, nonetheless finishing in the green
  • You can thank oil for that reversal: crude rallied in the morning but then plummeted mid-day, still reaching 18-month highs amidst hopes that the impending oil production cut will actually reduce supply

 

Crossing the Border Ain’t Easy Anymore

Let’s start with Ford

After coming under fire by President-elect Trump, Ford (+3.79%) announced yesterday that it’s canceling plans for a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, instead opting to invest $700 million to expand an existing Michigan plant. Throughout his presidential campaign, the Donald emphasized keeping jobs in the U.S. and threatened to tax imported Ford vehicles, like those made in Mexico. Without acknowledging Trump’s criticism, CEO Mark Fields said the decision to cancel the new plant was motivated by less demand for the Ford Focus (the car being manufactured in Mexico) than the company was expecting. This meant Ford could use its existing Mexico plants to satisfy new production. On top of that news, Fields also announced that the company is developing an electric SUV with a 300-mile range by 2020. Quite the day for Ford. Now, about GM…

Now, about GM

It didn’t go all that well for General Motors (+0.89%) either, after being blasted on Twitter by Trump for importing compact cars from Mexico to sell in the U.S. Analysts say that the auto industry has the most at stake as a result of Trump’s vow to renegotiate NAFTA, which has allowed manufacturers and suppliers to move production to Mexico…minus the taxes. Cue Trump’s aggravation and his previous threat to impose a 35% tax on foreign-made goods sold to Americans by companies that offshore American jobs. GM responded, saying it makes most of its models in the U.S., aside from one small model made in Mexico. Trump v. the U.S. auto industry rages on.

 

Tesla Almost Made It

…But “almost” isn’t good enough for investors. Elon Musk and Co. promised to sell and deliver 80,000 Tesla (-2.07% after hours) vehicles in 2016, but missed the mark by just under 4,000 units. To be fair, about 2,750 sold vehicles weren’t counted because of operational delays related to actual delivery. So close, yet so far. Unfortunately, the small miss is a pretty big deal. Musk has a bad habit of missing deadlines on big promises, and this was a major opportunity to maintain investor confidence. Now, Wall Street analysts are starting to tune out some of Musk’s pledges, notably that the hyped Model 3 will be market-ready this year. Can you really put a timeline on safety and quality? The world waits in eager anticipation, Mr. Musk.

 

The Time Has Come

…CES descends upon Las Vegas. This week, tech geeks, manufacturers, retailers, developers and advertisers will be flocking by the thousands to attend CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show. CES is a time when almost the entire electronics industry descends on Sin City to showcase their coolest stuff. Tech goodies will be coming fast and furious—here’s a sampling of what’s already been unveiled:

  • Lenovo is playing a game of good ol’ one-upmanship: the Chinese tech company is set to unveil an identically-priced ($180) Amazon Echo lookalike that integrates Alexa while boasting sound quality that’s far superior to the Echo.
  • Norton is unveiling a secure Wi-Fi router that will protect devices connected by the internet of things (how your in-home devices communicate with each other). Why should you care? Norton says that a Russian website has already hacked security camera feeds of over 1,000 households. That’s just creepy.
  • E-Inc and Quirk Logic have teamed up for a 42-inch e-reader display called the Quilla that will let users draw and save sketches on its surface. No whiteboard lecture will ever be the same

 

Other Stories

 

Economic Calendar

  • Monday: Markets Closed (New Year’s Day Observed)
  • Tuesday: ISM Manufacturing Index (+); Construction Spending (+)
  • Wednesday: Private Employment Report; Auto Sales; Fed Meeting Minutes
  • Thursday: Walgreens, Monsanto, Ruby Tuesday Earnings; ISM Non-Manufacturing Index; Weekly Jobless Claims
  • Friday: December Jobs Report; International Trade

Behind the Scenes of Forbes’ 30 Under 30

The list is out! In its sixth year, Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of game changers was announced yesterday. This time around, it’s not only 30 young folks. With 30 young people for each of 20 industries, we’re looking at 600 total honorees. The whole list can also be navigated through a few additional editorial classifications: immigrants, youngest, celebrities, dorm room founders and all-star alumni. Here’s a closer look:

  • This year, there were over 15,000 nominations. With just 600 spots, the 4% acceptance rate made making this list harder than getting into Harvard or Stanford.
  • The stereotypes are real, but not all that bad: nearly half of the list describes millennials as innovators. 57% claim to have started their businesses to solve problems, while 27% of honorees hope their businesses change the world.
  • The five most attended universities are MIT, Harvard, NYU, Penn and Stanford. But don’t worry, stars are just like us: the honorees’ top three go-to apps are Instagram, Slack and Twitter. Keep dreaming, millennials!

Interview Question of the Day

Make 34 using only the number 3. You can also use x, /, + and (). (Answer)

Business Term of the Day

We’re hearing a lot about bitcoin these days, so let’s take a minute to brush up on some key lingo. A paper wallet is an offline mechanism for storing bitcoins. The process involves printing the private keys and bitcoin addresses onto paper. Physical wallets, also known as “physical bitcoins,” are considered one of the safest ways to store bitcoins, provided certain security precautions are followed.

Food for Thought

MIT researchers estimate that ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft could reduce the number of vehicles on the road by a whopping 75%, and all without slowing down travel. Get this: using their own algorithm, the researchers estimated that 2,000 four-person cars could cover nearly all (95%) of the demand for taxis in New York City, with an average wait time of less than three minutes.

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