Disclaimer: I’m not a trained investment specialist or stock broker so this post is written for your information only. If you choose to invest in any of my suggestions there’s a chance you could lose money or not have returns on your investment. LF2SF does have some small investments in several of the stocks mentioned but makes no money if you choose to invest in them as well.
Green Rush:
With the new administration in place, I think there’s money to be made in several different ways through investment in solar and green energy… and the other green rush:
- Energy and Solar Stocks: Here’s where you will have to have to do some research on your own and think through all the possible ways that the political and social machine might sweep energy stocks into the forefront, especially if solar subsidies return and the country takes a sharper turn toward what used to be called “alternative energy”. Wind and solar are now mainstream energy sources with more eyes on wave and thermal energy, but money making stocks they have not always been. But there’s hope yet…did you know that Tesla sells large industrial batteries and solar roofing? It’s an expensive proposition but if you buy the stock up in small pieces it’s easier to swallow.
- The OTHER Green Rush: Cannabis Stocks and ETFs. With California legalizing as a state in 2016 and Canada legalizing as a country in 2018…folks thought Cannabis related stocks and ETF’s would go ballistic but it seems like just a slow roll so far. Mexico will soon be the largest country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana (April 2021) and hopefully this will take a bite out crime and bring much needed legal revenue to smaller businesses and farming communities. And, by the end of the year two large companies in Canada may merge (Tilray and Aphria) to form the worlds largest cannabis related business. But drawbacks for business owners and investors remain….stocks of actual cannabis companies are mostly Canadian right now but there are myriad related industries that support Cannabis out there there (US companies that are public), depending on your flavor…Real Estate Investment Trust companies (REITS), Electronically Traded Funds and various other industries. This sector may also be influenced by US politics soon, as there’s been talk of taking Cannabis off the Schedule-1…like has already been done with Hemp. We’ll see how it goes. Right now, there’s money to be made as a long term investor in this very new, risky and immature economic sector.
Post-Covid Consumer Slam
The post Covid consumer bump (slam): No matter if the economy rours back in a “V” or a “U” shape post-Covid, my crystal ball says there’s gonna be some epic post-isolation shopping, travel and splurging. But the catch to the post-Covid consumer bump is that to catch it, you probably need to start thinking of buying into the market (ETF/stocks) NOW…while some of the largest consumer business’s are still effected by the COVID restrictions and not back to capacity at all. Don’t worry, read on and take a look at my logic and you’ll understand what I mean. Seriously, there’s stocks that you could still make some money on when their companies come rouring back to life and there’s stocks that are just as expensive but still have room to grow and make folks money. Here’s a few industries and stocks that are on my mind for a post-Covid consumer bump fairly soon:
- The Disney Companies: Yep, the stock isn’t cheap right now but with several of their parks still closed, movie theaters closed and staff laid off…I wonder what kind of cash will start pumping out of this marketing and revenue giant once the US gets most folks vaccinated by summer? The Florida Parks are already open at limited capacity and the California Parks are opening this spring/summer with limited capacity…but this will flood the market with hope for strong recovery as it happens. The other possibility is that with folks getting out of the house more often, their streaming service revenues may level off but revenues from the parks will start to roll in again.
- Winnebago: Continuing to crush expectations, Americans are taking to the road in their own motorhome and trailer versions all over the country. Winnebego is doing well and I would think this trend will only continue.
- Diageo: This company probably owns your favorite spirit or wine label and you may not even know it. Doing well during the adversity of Covid as we come out of this crazy time, this isn’t a cheap stock but it’s well positioned for a bump soon.
- Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Lines: Yep, here’s an opportunity as they were trading at over $50 per share in late February 2020 and but took a nosedive in March 2020. All three stocks have slowly started to come back up and will be in a great position for a huge post-Covid consumer bump once cruises are turned back on. There seems to be a large stable of pent-up demand from repeat cruisers…which means the stock is going to come back up nicely. Dividends may not follow for several years, but as a growth stock they have great potential.
- Airline Stocks: Like the cruise line stocks, these were clobbered in 2020. Some have sort of recovered but there’s other airlines out there that may still have great growth and value potential….as airline travel will pick up over the next year in conjunction with vaccinations and travel opportunities.
Random Picks
- General Electric: GE just divested itself of the last business associated with it’s massive GE Capital sell-off and has been steadily climbing back to profitability. They pay a small dividend and the CEO gets a massive payday if the stock hits $15 dollars a share. They’re nearly there and stand to do well as the airline business cranks back up in the future.
- Roblox Corporation: Here’s one that you’ve probably never heard of unless you have kids, but the company did really well during the Covid crisis and predict they’ll do lots better coming out of it. This business is basically an online platform that allows game creators the space to create and play video games free on their site. Just last week they IPO’ed starting at $45 dollars a share and skyrocketed to over $70 dollars per share the same day as the stock leveled out. I’m betting they continue to be a gamer platform but slowly start moving into the social media space that Facebook and others have now. The kids playing and chatting on the site today will grow up and use the site for social interactions….as Facebook may be too mainstream for this generation.
Living on a cruising sailboat affords us the opportunity to go days and weeks without spending much or any money…but then at various times we have huge unexpected expenditures that we didn’t plan for but have to deal with. We’ve adopted a strategy that says we pay our bills first, pay down large expenses (like boat payments) as fast as possible and then pay ourselves specifically with whatever’s leftover after monthly expenses. This is where the small amount of money comes from that I’m able to invest. If you’re anything like us and there’s no large amounts of cash in the safe….you can save and invest slowly without being behind on much of anything. Covid and our own habits have curtailed lots things that we used to do, that ate up our money. We eat out sparingly, there’s no movies to see, we don’t have lots of internet access and just don’t have too many shopping opportunities that take our disposable cash. I encourage you to do what you can to save and invest small amounts of money….and hold those investments so you can watch the miracle of compounding interest and dividends over time.
21/4/20: We’ve been cruising off the grid a bit in the Sea of Cortez and will go off the grid again later today, but I wanted to get this posted for Saturday to make sure you all saw it. Thanks for reading and remember if you’re not following us already, we’d love your “Follow”.
