Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

by Josh Korthuis

Economic Trends:

Baby Boomers are getting ready to retire which could be a great opportunity for those who know how to exploit it. I found this information in an article called, "Are We in a Baby Boomer Retirement Crisis?" by Barbara Friedberg. With a huge generation of people ready to retire I would suggest that people start to invest money into the healthcare field since these people are getting older and in turn going to the doctor more. The customer with this opportunity is the baby boomers themselves because as they get older their bodies will weaken causing new innovation in healthcare to peak their interests as a consumer. This opportunity could be easy to exploit if you were simply to invest into a healthcare company in the stock market, but could be tough if you were try to invent something yourself and try and open your own company. 

I believe that others could easily have seen the trend that baby boomers are gonna retire soon because it was one of the most popular american generations. They might not think to invest in health care and maybe decide that building a retirement community would be a better idea, but at the end of the day everyone's health will always be the most important thing to them at old age. In my experience I have a desire to work in the health care industry one day so it would be easier for me to see this opportunity then others. 

The United States will become the world leader in oil production. This information was given in the article, "Oil Boom Gives the U.S. a New Edge in Energy and Diplomacy" by Clifford Krauss. The article stated that the U.S. will surpass world leaders Russia and Saudi Arabia with an output of 10 million barrels a day. This makes me believe there is an opportunity to invest in US oil companies since they will now be the world leader in output and possibly controlling the market. The customer for this opportunity is anyone willing to take a chance investing in these company's. This is an easy opportunity to exploit because all you have to do is invest and dont have to worry about making business decisions. 

 This opportunity was easy for others to spot because oil is always in the news and a huge top of debate in america. I formed this belief of opportunity because oil is one of the most essential things to Americans in this time period because it runs our cars and a lot of other things we rely on. Others who are more green oriented might say to invest in electric cars, but for now gas powered cars make up most of the market. I personally was able to see this opportunity because emtionally I know oil is not great for the environment, but electric cars and power sources aren't powerful enough yet to run america on its own. 

Regulatory Trends:

Paid sick days and raising minimum wage has been gaining popularity and will be something to watch out for in 2018. This policy was talked about in the article, "5 Big Regulatory Changes That Could Affect Your Business in 2018" by Adam C. Uzialko. This means there could be a huge opportunity in those who can create robots to do the same minimum wage jobs humans currently occupy because businesses are not looking to spend more money on their entry level employees and are willing to invest in robotic solutions to save money in the long run. The customer of this opportunity would mostly be fast food restaurants or banks because they could realistically change out cashiers with robots if they had the technology to do it. This opportunity would be difficult for the average person to exploit but for people with the ability to build robots it would be manageable. 

 It would not be hard for other people to see this opportunity in the horizon, I do believe that come people would be opposed to it because it would be taking jobs away from entry level workers. I understand how the business world works so it was easy for me to see this opportunity and it reminded me of how candle makers boycotted electricity when it was first introduced but at the end of the day innovation has made the world a better place and this could have the same result. 

Cyber security is going to have new regulation so that company's make it harder for hackers to steal customer information. In the article "2018 Investment Management Regulatory Outlook" the address the issue of greater investment in cyber security for US company's. I believe it would be a good idea to invest in cyber security if you haven't especially with talks of regulation changes in the future. The most likely customer for this information would be people who have money to invest in cyber security. This is an easy opportunity to exploit if you have the money because all you have to do is invest it. 

I formed this opinion because it seems logical that their will be more regulation on company's having stronger cyber security in the future so it seems that anyone could form this opinion as well. In my experience one of my best friends wants to work in cyber security so he always tells ame about it so I have a good background in the subject.