All posts by James Cannon

About James Cannon

James Cannon is an experienced hedge fund analyst. He has served on the advisory boards for various different Fortune 500 companies as well as serving as an adjunct professor of finance. James Cannon has written for a variety of Financial Magazines both on and off line. Contact James at james[at]businessdistrict.com

Advice from 17-year-old Entrepreneur: Keep Learning

Companies,

You might not have heard of Sienna Sauce yet, but you will soon if Tyla-Simone Crayton has anything to say about it.

Crayton is a 17-year-old CEO of a business she started herself, Sienna Sauce, a stable of sauces that are perfect for chicken wings and just about anything else you might want to put a sauce on.

She has sold her product all over the United States to over 70 retail shops, generating $192,000 in revenue. She has received more than $45,000 in funding through pitch contests and collected close to $200,000 from crowdfunding platforms.

As the sauces keep flowing off the shelves Clayton is ready to help others find their sweet spot of success with some words of wisdom.

  1. Never stop learning and always ask questions. Crayton encourages people to not be afraid to be vulnerable or to not be the smartest person around. Mark Cuban of Shark Tank fame says the same. Cuban surprised Crayton when he appeared on ABC’s Localish series “More in Common” last October and offered her some hard-won advice.“Business is a sport, you’ve got to compete. But most importantly, you’ve got to recognize that you’ve got to learn all of the time,” Cuban told her. “A great entrepreneur is always learning because things change all the time.”
  2. Find a mentor that will help you through the hard times. Experts say that a mentor can speed up career and personal growth. And mentorship has helped many successful people get over those first hurdles.
  3. The customer can teach you something, too. Crayton has made it a point of taking seriously feedback she gets from customers. After her first “signature sauce” came out, Tangy in 2018, her customers practically begged for additional flavors. So she added Spicy and Lemon Pepper, and her sales went up. And that is why they have three different flavors now.

“When you listen to customers, they tell you exactly what they want,” Crayton said.

The Youngest Electorate in US History Votes for Oldest President-Elect

Politics, ,
Joe Biden courtesy of Gage Skidmore

At 78 years old Joe Biden is the oldest president-elect in US history—but that did not stop young people from voting for him in droves. More than half of registered voters under 30 voted in the 2020 election, the largest percentage ever says the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.

That historic engagement of the young, benefited Biden, since he received 60% of their votes, compared to only 36% that the incumbent, Donald Trump received. In contrast, the previous presidential election in 2016 only inspired 42%-44% of this demographic to vote for either Hillary Clinton or Trump. Four years ago, many of the same voters supported Clinton, but by a smaller spread of only 19 points: 55% to 36%.

In Colorado, Georgia, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington preliminary data are showing a large increase in youth coming to the polls to vote.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Bonier at the Democratic data firm TargetSmart, explained to The Hill that “the increase in turnout among younger voters was greater than the increase overall.”
The Biden campaign was well-aware that support for Clinton in 2016 waned in many large population centers, so they worked hard to showcase issues that are important to younger voters. Some of those issues include student debt, health care, and environmental regulations.

“In the key battlegrounds, those younger voters likely netted Biden enough votes to carry the Electoral College,” according to The Hill. “Based on turnout and exit poll data, the Tufts center estimates voters under 30 gave Biden enough net votes to carry Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.”

Young Black voters were especially supportive of Biden, with 87% voting for Biden and only 10% supporting Trump. Almost as dedicated to Biden were young voters from Asian and Hispanic backgrounds with 83% of young Asians and 73% of young Hispanics voting for Biden. Among young white voters, the support was less pronounced, with 51% supporting Biden at the polls.

Women Almost Half of MBA Students in Some Business Programs

Education, , , , , ,

The number of women as a percentage of students enrolled in MBA programs around the country slowly reached record numbers this year. This record came despite a difficult year of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The business school which ranked among the top 20 according to Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking that came the closest to parity for women with men was the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. They announced that 49% of the entering class was female, while the Stanford Grad School of Business was not far behind with 47%.

Not all schools were able to achieve such good results. For instance, the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon has a student body of new MBA students made up of only 25% women. A bit better were Cornell’s SC Johnson and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler, each made up of 31% women.

The measurements were done by taking Businessweek’s top 20 schools in 2019-2020 and looking at those same schools over the past five years.

The schools with the highest percentages of women were:

  1. Dartmouth (Tuck)— 49%
  2. Stanford—47%
  3. Duke— 46%
  4. Harvard—45%
  5. Michigan (Ross)— 44%
  6. NYU (Stern)— 44%

GDP Sets Record for Growth During Q3

Economy, , ,

The annualized rate for the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached a record of 33.1% during July, August, and September. The historic growth came immediately after one of the worst slumps in history, the second quarter’s annualized shrinkage of 33.4%.

The see-saw like behavior of the US economy can be accounted for by the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced a lockdown during the second quarter which shuttered many businesses, causing widespread job loss and business closures. In June stay-at-home orders lifted and the economy began to re-open, accounting for the rapid rebound of the economy in Q3.

Yet, even such a strong rebound has not resulted in a full recovery, which some analysts believe could take years, especially since the rate of GDP growth is expected to significantly slow down during Q4 of 2020.

Much of the growth is attributed to money set loose into the economy via the CARES Act, which distributed $2.2 trillion to every eligible American.

“Not only was the US economy enjoying the immediate bounce as a result of economic re-openings, but it was basking in significant fiscal stimulus support schemes,” said Seema Shah, the chief strategist at Principal Global Investors. “Now, the path forward will inevitably be an uphill struggle.”

US Business Sees Fastest Growth Since February 2019

Economy, , ,

According to IHS Markit’s business growth saw a significant uptick in October, the best its seen since February 2019.

The IHS Markit composite output index registered at 55.5, up from 54.3, the best number it has produced in almost 9 months. The index of service industry activity also gained from 54.6 to 56, and the purchasing manager’s index for the manufacturing sector rose from 53.2 to 53.3.

The index is a gauge of month-over-month changes in activity, not a summary of overall output. A reading of 50 indicates no change in business activity, while anything above 50 is a positive change and numbers below 50 indicate an economic contraction.

Chris Williamson, HIS Markit chief business economist said that last week’s report indicates that the US economy “started the fourth quarter on a strong footing.”

Markit is almost unique in showing a V-shaped economic bounce-back due to the trend being fueled by the rebound in output. Most of the other indices of business activity indicate that economic output still remains significantly under the pre-pandemic levels.