Welcome to the Revolution
25th February 2021 |
9 January 2007. Fourteen years ago. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing?
Do you even know why that date is one of the most important in history?
It’s not exactly the kind of event that everyone remembers. Not quite like the moment you heard about Princess Dianna’s death. Not quite like the attacks on the World Trade Center. Not quite like the London bombings.
I can tell you exactly where I was on every one of those dates. I’m sure you can too.
Note: except the moon landing. I didn’t exist then.
Anyway, key dates in history, the dates we distinctly remember, are unfortunately usually tied to dramatic events that aren’t good.
The events that are good, positive, world-changing events, we often don’t really remember. At least not most people. It’s a bit like the news really. No one really turns into the news for good news, and the news doesn’t run good news much anyway.
Bad news sells. Bad news we remember.
However, in my view, those that are prepared to look to the brighter side of how the world works, end up being better for it. To take the positive mindset and find the optimistic developments happening usually puts you in a better position than those caught up in all the bad stuff.
And while you might not remember 3 January 2007, you should. It was a good news day. The day that Apple released the very first iPhone.
Perhaps you’re wondering what relevance that has. Well it was a formative moment for the world. It was a moment that was a significant contributor to the world we live in today.
The iPhone wasn’t the first “smartphone”. It was, however, the one that truly captured the attention, hearts and wallets of the world. It was beautiful in design and incredibly useful in functionality.
Design and function. It cost a bomb though. All of Apple’s devices cost a bomb. But it doesn’t matter. People pay for beautiful design and function. That’s an important lesson to know.
The iPhone, while the marquee development, wasn’t the full story. The App Store and the introduction of native digital applications arguably had an even bigger impact on the world.
This year the app economy is expected to surpass $6.3 trillion, exceed 6.3 billion users and see time spent in apps surge to over 3.5 trillion hours (according to a 2017 prediction). Worth noting is that $6.3 trillion figure is up $1.3 trillion from 2016.
That is immense growth.
It’s also very relevant, because what we’ve seen over the last 14 years with the explosion of smartphones and the app economy has incredible parallels with another world-changing event, another that most people really don’t think much about or even know about.
3 January 2009. Just a couple years after the iPhone launch. This was the date that bitcoin launched its genesis block. It was the first moment in what would be a world-changing event.
That moment has helped to kick start a financial and economic revolution the likes we’ve never seen. It also has the kind of wealth potential that we’ve seen from the app economy – except in my view, multitudes higher.
Right now, the rough estimates are that the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem has a circulating value of about $1.5 trillion. That value has exploded in the last five years from just a few hundred million.
Also, in terms of users, the crypto economy is nowhere near 6.3 billion. It’s not even close to one billion yet. But it’s heading in that direction and it’s heading there fast.
What we’re seeing in terms of development, innovation and creation is similar to the explosion we’ve seen from the smartphone and app economy mega trend. Except the crypto economy is absorbing part of the financial world that was previously never thought possible.
This has led to incredible potential for assets like bitcoin and Ethereum to redefine how we look at financial networks and global transactions. It’s making the world take another look at how markets operate, how we transfer assets and wealth, how we interact and value personal information and data.
It’s leading us towards new network that can deliver value, wealth, opportunity. It’s how projects like IOTA can potentially underpin a global machine-to-machine (M2M) network. It’s how the idea of an NFT (non-fungible token) can mean we look at the art world and collectibles in a whole new way.
What we’re seeing now is an explosion of wealth, a recreation of finance and economics that will shape the next 100 years of our existence.
It will mean we will change the way we look at money, assets, transactions, value, wealth, and what it means to exist outside the “traditional” monetary system.
It’s a revolution of the most epic proportions and one that you are now a part of.
Stock Focus
Aston Martin Lagonda
The great British car company released its preliminary results for the 2020 year today. And they weren’t great, although the market reaction would have you thinking otherwise.
Compared to the full year 2019, retail sales were down 32%, wholesale sales down 42% and total revenue down 38%. The total loss before tax was a whopping £466 million compared to £119.6 million for the 2019 year.
Of course, that’s to be expected. 2020 was rubbish for car companies. The thing with Aston is the future continues to look much better. And both Lawrence Stroll (chairman) and Tobias Moers see great things coming for the company.
As bad as the results were, the market too seems to have an eye on the future and the stock was up as much as 9% in early trading. We’re sitting on a healthy gain with Aston and continue to hold the stock as I expect that trend to continue through 2021.
Ocean Outdoor
Late last week Ocean Outdoor announced a new partnership with BT Sport. The company would be able to publish next-day match clips from the Champions League. Now in round 16 and heading towards the final in May, the Champions League is a massive global football event.
Being able to display clips from games including from Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool will bring eyes and attention to Ocean Outdoor’s large format digital screens. It’s also the first deal it’s done with BT Sport and the first time it’s put European football on its big screens.
While a bit of a “sleeper” company, Ocean Outdoor continues to be a dominant player in out-of-home advertising, and with the world moving out of a global pandemic, I see a strong future coming for the company over the next 18 months.
The Frontier Tech Investor “Top Three”
Sometimes it’s hard to decide on which stocks to invest in from our buy list.
Below is our Frontier Tech Investor “Top Three” section showing three stocks in open BUY positions that if you’re trying to figure out what to invest in next, are the three I think are a great place to start.
This doesn’t mean our other stocks are no good, it’s just a guide to help you out in your decision-making process for the next stock I think is worth your consideration.
MelodyVR – Melody VR is a part of the global music streaming industry. Primarily its MelodyVR app is for virtual reality music streaming. This includes live concerts. I call it the Spotify of VR. The potential is huge. And having recently acquired Napster, a good old throwback to yesteryear, looking to rename and grow their offering, I think there’s great potential in this still relatively unknown company.
IQE – our most recent recommendation, IQE, is a key part of the supply chain getting semiconductors into the world. With a gigantic increase in the demand for semiconductors, the world is facing a “chipageddon”. It’s a situation where there simply aren’t enough semiconductors to supply the world’s biggest most demanding companies. IQE is one of the few ways to pure-play the world’s semiconductor industry in the UK market.
Velocys – there’s no doubt that governments are going to continue to push their “green agenda”. This means doing what they can to support industry that will help enable carbon neutral economies. Velocys is a big part of this, developing sustainable fuels for transport and logistics (in particular aviation) with pioneering technology. If you’re looking for a great “green energy” play, Velocys is a great place to start.
Regards,
Sam Volkering
Editor, Frontier Tech Investor
