What is the next big thing in investing?

teddieriley · Jan 18, 2008

Had a discussion with a couple of friends about this. On a high level we had technology/internet stocks in the late 90s early 2000s. Then we had real estate. With all those things shots to hell, what's next? Here were a few ideas that were thrown out:

(1) Alternative fuels, in response to the huge go green movement.
(2) Health/Home care aimed at the soon to be retiring baby-boomers.
(3) Foreign investment (but where??)

First, it's not exactly clear to me how to get in on any of this, and I'm not sure if these ever will be as big as the cash cows of the tech stocks and real estate, but there will be that next big thing. I just want to make sure I get in on it...(after this period of economic slump, of course)

Piobaire · Jan 18, 2008

I would wait on any healthcare stock until after the elections. Also, I would be very hesitant to ever get into a healthcare company that counts too heavily on government sourced payments. The last one I can think of that did well, that relied on Medicare payments, was Odyssey Hospice, and if memory serves, they ended up having some accounting and/or billing 'irregularities" that landed some people in hot water and the stock in the toilet.

maacone · Jan 18, 2008

Commodities. Agricultural food prices are going to increase a lot.

Violinist · Jan 18, 2008

Originally Posted by teddieriley

Had a discussion with a couple of friends about this. On a high level we had technology/internet stocks in the late 90s early 2000s. Then we had real estate. With all those things shots to hell, what's next? Here were a few ideas that were thrown out:

(1) Alternative fuels, in response to the huge go green movement.
(2) Health/Home care aimed at the soon to be retiring baby-boomers.
(3) Foreign investment (but where??)

First, it's not exactly clear to me how to get in on any of this, and I'm not sure if these ever will be as big as the cash cows of the tech stocks and real estate, but there will be that next big thing. I just want to make sure I get in on it...(after this period of economic slump, of course)

Probably REITs...

EL72 · Jan 18, 2008

There's a great future in plastics. Think about it.

dkzzzz · Jan 18, 2008

Turn-key retirement communities.
Everyone talks about India and China stocks.
London exchange is doing much much better than Wall Street.

imageWIS · Jan 18, 2008

Originally Posted by EL72

There's a great future in plastics. Think about it.

LOL.

Seriously though, I'm wondering if there is going to be a bigger shift from petroleum-based plastics to natural-derived plastics (soybean, etc...).

Jon.

lawyerdad · Jan 18, 2008

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

Everyone talks about India and China stocks.

Which pretty much guarantees that they're not where you should put your money.

Jbreen1 · Jan 18, 2008

Well foreign investing is already getting big. If you know what your doing it's the thing to do right now. As mentioned by the OP, alternative fuels as well as alternative fuel transportation is going to be very big. The technology sector is always big and will continue to be so for quite some time.

gumercindo · Jan 18, 2008

Not sure if it's the "next big thing", but there are always opportunities in the biotech/pharma industry.

lawyerdad · Jan 18, 2008

Originally Posted by Jbreen1

Well foreign investing is already getting big. If you know what your doing it's the thing to do right now. As mentioned by the OP, alternative fuels as well as alternative fuel transportation is going to be very big. The technology sector is always big and will continue to be so for quite some time.

Foreign investing has been big for quite a while now. My only point was that if everybody's talking about it, it might still be the current big thing, and it almost certainly was the last big thing, but it's unlikely to be the next big thing. The goal is to get there before everyone else, not immediately after.

Tangfastic · Jan 18, 2008

Roulette, stick it all on black.

Or red.

There are no smart investors who make it really big, only lucky ones who people listen to as they've made money.

Piobaire · Jan 18, 2008

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

Turn-key retirement communities.

Hyper-competitive market, the industry will Wal-Mart itself nationally in 10 years, has done it in some areas already.

teddieriley · Jan 18, 2008

Originally Posted by Tangfastic

Roulette, stick it all on black.

Or red.

There are no smart investors who make it really big, only lucky ones who people listen to as they've made money.

I don't care if the investor is "smart" or not. The ones who hit it big were the ones who got in early, whether it was the tech/internet stocks or real estate. In In fact, I'm sure a number of them were idiots who got lucky, which makes me even more annoyed. But attribute it to foresight, luck, intelligence, whatever, but my point is there is going to be the next big thing, and as long as you get a sense of what that is before everyone else does and put your money in it, you won't be one of those people thinking in hindsight, ****, I should have got in on that.

I know the responses on here are speculative, but I figured with the wide variety of backgrounds on SF (lawyers, doctors, bankers, businessmen, tech people, etc.), if we put our collective intellect and experience together, we could come up with something.

itsstillmatt · Jan 18, 2008

With investing as with cleavage, the best is the original way. Buy companies selling for less than they are worth.

What is the next big thing in investing?

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