Assignment 6- Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Opportunity #1 (economic)- An opportunity lies in real estate stocks. I found information regarding this in a WSJ article found here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/real-estate-stocks-beating-s-p-500-for-first-time-since-2015-11545134402

This article tells how real estate stocks have beat the S&P 500 for the first time since 2015, which is huge considering the rest of the stock market has shown a lot of change recently. This information, as well as other knowledge of current market conditions, suggests that there is an opportunity because more people, especially in larger cities where real estate investing is popular, are looking towards multifamily and commercial real estate rather than renting or buying homes. The most likely customer with this opportunity is wealthier individuals who wish to put their money in these trust funds that holds higher risk than other indices, but promises dividend income. It may be relatively difficult for some investors to exploit due to the fact that it is a more expensive investment than the regular stock market.

I saw this opportunity because my parents have always invested in real estate in some way during my lifetime because my mom is a realtor and is able to jump on opportunities quickly. It is a promising industry because everyone will always need housing, and as long as you are smart about when you buy/sell you will tend to make money rather than lose it.

Opportunity #2 (economic)- With many sources predicting that a recession is on its way due to rising interest rates and a flat yield curve, there is an opportunity that lies within accumulating real estate once a recession starts through buying short sale and foreclosed homes. More information can be found at the following: https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmoore/2018/12/26/4-market-trends-to-watch-in-2019/#3c9ebcb1688a

This article discusses an economic outlook for 2019, and like other resources it has pointed out many factors that may signal a recession coming soon. During recessions, mortgages are frequently defaulted on, but for investors or even just regular people with steady, solid incomes, this means that real estate may be cheaper after the bubble bursts from inflation and rising interest rates. Investors may buy these homes and hold onto them until the market bounces back, and by that time they can sell them for their appraised value and earn a solid return. If you have enough set aside in savings to flat out buy homes or have enough to pay off a mortgage quickly, this is a relatively easy opportunity to exploit as long as you have patience to wait for the market to turn up again.

Again, I see this as an opportunity because my mom is a realtor and I learned a lot from her during the 2008-09 recession about short sales and foreclosures, so as long as you are a smart investor and know when to buy or sell, this is a great opportunity and a relatively easy way to flip your money by just waiting.

Opportunity #3 (regulatory)- An opportunity lies within creating a database for consumers of all the different websites we use that includes information about what information they draw from your interactions with their site and what they do with it (who they sell it to, etc.) This comes from the California Consumer Privacy Act that many places are beginning to adopt. Information can be found here: https://www.law.com/corpcounsel/2018/12/21/the-5-biggest-tech-laws-of-2018/?slreturn=20190023210056

Privacy has always been a concern for internet users, especially in recent months/years, especially after the Facebook scandal and the tech privacy regulations put into place in Europe. It is becoming expected of companies to disclose what they use your information for, so this changing culture leads me to believe that this opportunity exists. I believe that this would affect pretty much everyone who uses a computer, and I think that it would be fairly easy for the government to exploit this opportunity and create this sort of registry. If consumers could just go into the registry, type in a company name or website, and see all the places their personal information goes, they would be more reluctant to use some sites.

Being a consumer myself, I would love to be more informed about the cookies that track my clicks on websites, what companies actually use my information for, and the like. I think that it is every consumer's right to know these things. The fact that I get random emails all the time from sites or organizations that I never gave my information to is proof enough that this is an opportunity.

Opportunity #4 (regulatory)- A huge opportunity lies in capitalizing on natural cosmetic products following regulations that are soon to come after the FDA investigates manufacturing and the like in the cosmetic industry. More information can be found here: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/fda-begins-first-inquiry-of-lightly-regulated-cosmetics-industry.html

An opportunity exists because even without this investigation and likely regulations coming soon, consumers are showing more interest in natural products as it is coming to light how harmful many of the ingredients in our everyday cosmetics are. People are having reactions to hair dye and their skin care products, and some ingredients are shown to play a role in developing certain cancers. Anyone can really hop on this opportunity, and even make natural skincare products for themselves, due to the fact that the ingredients are all around us, and not just some chemicals on the back of our shampoo that we can't pronounce or even begin to know where to get them. It would be easy to exploit--I know a girl who started her own natural cosmetics line in her apartment here in Gainesville and she ships her products from her Etsy site all over the country!

To me this is an opportunity because I have recently done more research about the products I put on my face or in my hair, etc. and have found that many of the ones I was previously using are so terrible for you. I began to use more natural products on my skin and hair and have really noticed that both have become so much healthier and better nourished. I even researched about making my own moisturizers and shampoos and found that it is relatively easy, so the opportunity is really there for anyone.